“Saint Ilie” church

Sadova Monastery Short history: The monastery was founded by the Craiovesti boyars at the beginning of the XVI th century. The church is made of brick, with thick walls, and it was built in 1633 on a foundation of stone boulders, on the site of the old wooden church, dedicated to Saint Nicholas. The monastery was fortified by Matei Basarab in 1640, then by Preda Brancoveanu. Saint Constantin Brancoveanu erected the infirmary church, in 1693, under the patronage of The Entry of Virgin Mary into the Church. Nowadays, there are still visible some fragments of the original wall painting from 1792, restored in 1852 and 1903. The monastery is built under the patronage of "Saint Nicholas" and of "The Entry of Virgin Mary into the Church". Description: Located south of the city of Craiova, near a forest on the bank of the Jiu river, Saint Nicholas Monastery in Sadova was originally a construction of the Craioveşti boyars. They built around 1520 a wooden church, on the same spot where Matei Basarab raised a stone one between 1632-1633. The construction of the new settlement is related to a legend according to which Matei Basarab, who had allegedly fought against the Turks at Schela Ciobanului (Shepherd`s Scaffold), in the Bechet area, reached Sadova along with his armies. Losing in two rows, when he reaches the wooden church in Sadova, he prays to the icon of St. Nicholas, promising that, if he defeats in battle, he will raise a stone church. On August 26, 1632, he won the battle, he became ruler of the country and he began the construction itself. The Church of the Sadova Monastery was completely restored after 1900 and consecrated in 1904, in the presence of King Carol. According to the existing documents and taking into account the paintings in the monastery, it appears that it hosted at first monks, but in 1959 it was a nun monastery. But they were forced to leave the place, following the Decree 410, and the church was turned into an parish church. In 1992, the monastic life resumed, and the settlement was populated with nuns, but in 1994 it became once again a monastery for the monks, as it had originally been. The church is made of brick, with thick walls, erected on a foundation of stone boulders. It has wide closed porch. Between the nave and the narthex there are two thick lateral pillars separating the two rooms. They support the arcade on which the octagonal shaped steeple stands, covered with asbestos plates. The roof of the church is made of galvanized tin, and the floor is made of mosaic. The walls are pierced by large, double windows. In the interior, there are still conserved fragments of the original painting, cleaned in 1904. On the outside, a thick, twisted medial girdle divides the walls into two registers. Both of them are adorned with friezes with extremely elegant ornaments. Under the cornice there is a girdle in the shape of a saw, made of three rows of bricks. Resuming the monastic life also required repairs of the church and of the surrounding buildings, in order to give back to the place the discreet beauty of the past. Source: http://manastireasadova.blogspot.com/2012/03/manastirea-sadova.html https://locuridinromania.ro/judetul-dolj/comuna-sadova/manastirea-sadova.html

Titular saints: • The Pious Saint Calinic Cernicanul (April 11th) • The Pious Saint Parascheva (October 14th) • Saint Hierarch Nicholas (December 6th) Monks monastery founded in 1853 by St. Calinic Cernicanul, Bishop of Ramnic. Historical timeline: • 1678:The wooden church of Ioan Hamza • 1853: The current church, founded by St. Calinic Cernicanul • 1864-1992: It works as a parish church; • 1992: At the initiative of Nestor Vorniceanu, Archbishop of Craiova and Metropolitan Bishop of Oltenia, a monastery is re-established here. Popânzălești Monastery is a Christian-Orthodox nun monastery, located about 25 kilometers southeast of Craiova, in the village with the same name, the commune of Drăgotești, in Dolj county. Popânzălești Monastery is mentioned in historical documents from 1678, when it was entrusted to the Bishopric of Ramnic, by the chancellor Hamza from Popânzălești, its founder. Towards the end of his life, chancellor Hamza became a monk, at the monstaery he built, receiving the name of Ioan. He had endowed the monastery with all the necessities of the monastic life, he included it in the hearth of the village, a fact reinforced by Saint Voivod Constantin Brâncoveanu in a document of 1695. Legend says that the chancellor was once an outlaw and confessing to a monk, he was advised to use the amounts stolen to build a worship place. In the year 1799, the Archimandrite Metodie rebuilts the wooden monastery from its foundation, on the site of the old church, and dedicates it to Saint Gregory Decapolitul and Gregory the Merciful. In 1852, the two titular saints of the monastery were painted in the same icon, at the request of Saint Calinic of Cernica, who was already a bishop at that time, by the monks and painters Constantin and Florea, from the Frasina Monastery. During the reign of Barbu Știrbei (1849-1853; 1854-1856) extensive restoration work begins, as the whole ensemble was damaged by the earthquake of 1838. In 1850, after Saint Calinic from Cernica became Bishop of Ramnic, the works continued successfully. Attracted to the tranquility of the place, the new bishop himself builds the new monastery, which will be ready in less than two years. Saint Calinic gave the monastery an icon picturing Virgin Mary and a golden necklace. The new church, dedicated to Saint Hierarch Nicholas, was consecrated on July 15, 1853. In 1864, after the secularization of the monastery assets, at the command of the ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the monks moved to other monasteries, and the monastery church was transformed into a parish church. On June 8, 1992, after the re-establishment of the Popanzalesti Monastery, at the proposal of Nestor Vornicescu, the archbishop of Craiova and the metropolitan bishop of Oltenia, the monastery added another titular saint: Saint Pious Parascheva. The church is built of brick, in the form of a cross, and has one meter thick walls. The tower of the church, located above the narthex, has no opening inwards. The painting, in a neo-Byzantine style, was executed in tempera. The monastery was led, since the re-establishment and until the autumn of 2013 (September), by the Protosyncellus Fanurie Chiriță, the abbot of this settlement. From the moment it became a monastery of nuns and until now the monastery is led by the nun Steliana Mațea, the current abbess. Since the fall of 2015, the monastery church has entered an extensive restoration process, the services officiating in a small chapel, arranged in the old dining room of the monastery. Source: https://www.crestinortodox.ro/biserici-manastiri/manastirea-popanzalesti-sfantul-calinic-la-cernica-141182.html http://www.mitropoliaolteniei.ro/?page_id=23554 https://www.biserici.org/index.php?menu=CU&code=2776&criteria=MANASTIR&quick=&radio=b&order=TOWN

The story of the monastery's construction is linked to an illiterate, deaf and poor shepherd called Petre Lupu, who supposedly had seen God in 1935, between Easter and Pentecost, and was asked to preach the love for faith. Thus, God gave him back his hearing and his speaking, his visions and healing making Maglavit a place of pilgrimage. The Maglavit Monastery, dedicated to the Life Giving Fountain, was demolished by the Communists and then restored in 1990, when the unfinished works before the war continued. Petrache Lupu is buried at Maglavit Monastery. After the Revolution of 1989, on 17th of August 1990, through the desire of the Christians, the Metropolitan Church of Oltenia re-establishes the monastery started in 1936. Archimandrite Policarp Sidor was entrusted as pastor of the church. There was no monastic life in the past in this region, but after Petrache Lupu’s events, some monks settled here, as well as a small community of nuns who settled on the banks of the Danube river. A monk began to serve here, "at the log", together with the abbot named Nicanor. At the same time, the construction of a large church was initiated in order to perpetuate the Maglavite's message and spread it among people. The large brick wall church was planned and designed on pillars to be protected from the Danube's waters. Currently, due to the pier construction, the water no longer threatens the church. The rise of the church began in 1936 and continued, but to a lesser extent, until 1940. After 1990, brick was laid at the basement and the ground floor, the place for the religious services being thus established. In 2010, the Maglavit Monastery which was a monastery for monks was transformed into monastery of nuns. In the summer of 1935, at Maglavit, a village near the Danube, God appeared to a shepherd named Petrache Lupu. Deaf from birth and also illiterate, he received the divine command to bring the vicious world on the right path and he suddenly began to speak and perform miracles. This is how one of the most famous religious phenomena in Romania was born, gathering hundreds of thousands of people from all the counties of the country, equally intellectuals, priests, politicians and peasants. The tale of Maglavit, in its picturesque way, was a miraculous, unexplained story which described, within Father Nicholas Bobin’s notebooks, the confessions of Petrache as well as the testimonies of other people who closely met the "Saint," the nickname of the shepherd used after his passing. The stories about Petrache Lupu and the place where God appeared to him are endless. Perhaps the easiest thing to do is to just go there. See the place in the forest, called "to the log", where the "Old man" appeared, or visit the willow tree with healing water pouring from it after He leaned on it, or visit the cross from the meadow, beside the four mulberry tree, where Petrache, an orphan and an illiterate shepherd, knew how to preach God’s word. It is impossible not to feel the power and the pressure of that vast place full of waterholes, located on the edge of a mulberry tree forest. If you stand still in the light-filled air, you will hear the Danube, the prayers from the past, woven into that endless flow of water. And a voice that goes before anyone else, easily recognizable: Petrache Lupu, the Man of God. sources: http://maglavit.info.ro/?page_id=58 https://manastireamaglavit.ro/ https://locuridinromania.ro/judetul-dolj/comuna-maglavit/manastirea-maglavit.html https://www.facebook.com/pages/Man%C4%83stirea-Maglavit/684108881781226

The Jitianu Orthodox Monastery is located in the village of Braniste, in Dolj county, and it is dedicated to the "Great Martyr Dimitrie" and the "Saint Prophet Ilie (Elijah)". Short history: In the XIV th century, a wooden church was erected by Mircea the Old, after the victory at Rovine, but it was first mentioned in documents in the XV th century. The church was built in the shape of a cross with a single cylindrical dome. The church's bell tower (on the west side) is a new massive construction (probably from the late XVIII th century, in Brancovenesc style). The church was restored in the years 1717, 1852, 1910, 1926 and 1958. At present, there is a valuable collection of icons made on wood and on glass. At the entrance to the courtyard of the monastery, next to the plum orchard, is a mulberry tree plantation belonging to Cuza, protected and declared historical monument. In 1877, during the Independence War, the church of the monastery served as a shell base, and the cells were used as a hospital for the Roman soldiers wounded in battle. Several Roman soldiers were buried in the courtyard of the monastery, as one can observe by the crosses placed behind the church. After the war, the monastery was listed on the historical monuments list. The Jitianu Monastery, is one of the oldest historical monuments in the Oltenia area, which survived over the centuries. The great church with its square tower is situated in the plain that surrounds Craiova, north of the road that leads to Calafat, surrounded by the orchards of the monastery on the outskirts of the village Branişte, in the commune of Podari. According to the historical sources, this settlement is identified as the marshland area, where the famous battle of Rovine was given, when the great ruler Mircea the Old (1394) emerged victorious against the Turks led by sultan Baiazid, called the Lightning. This fact has been described by the historians, although there are no written testimonies to document it, or at least they have not been found yet. "The Holy Jitianu Monastery, a great construction, which for almost four hundred years guarded the gates of this city as a holy witness to the faith and patriotism of the boyars and voivodes of our nation "(Nicolae Iorga) The Jitianu Monastery performed a double role on those historical precarious past times. The first is to keep lit the torch of the ancestral faith in the weary souls of the Romanians under the heavy burden of Ottoman slavery, while the second is to guard against predators, given the strategic position of this settlement. The Jitianu Monastery was built on the site of this small wooden church at the end of the XV th century and the beginning of the XVI th century by the efforts of the Craioveşti boyars in order to complete the fortification area around the fortress of Bania and to stop the Turkish raids which often touched these areas. "On the alleged place of a legendary wooden church of Mircea the Old - victorious in Rovine, in 1394 - at the Jitianu Monastery, erected by Mrs. Bălăşa, the wife of Constantin Serban Cârnul (1654-1657), that Constantin Brâncoveanu endowed with a tower according to the genre and the strategic purpose, on the road to Calafat and Vidin. "(Patriarch Macarie of Antioch visiting these lands in 1653.) The name of the Monastery seems to have been given by the founders in the honor of the one who owned the ground on which the church itself was built, the steward Jitianu who worked in the service of Lord Neagoe Basarab between 8 May 1514-14 July 1521. Due to the humid environment where the monastery was located, the church and the entire monastery complex will undergo a succession of renovations over the centuries; but still, towards the end of the XVIII th century, the church deteriorated and, especially given the situation of those hard times, it became a ruin and it was abandoned. Along with the end of the war, the condition of the monastery was getting worse. The opportunity of rehabilitation comes along with the passing of Queen Elena on her way to one of the royal domains in Segarcea. The railway is 1 km away from the monastery, and Queen Elena remained impressed at her sight. Accompanied by the famous historian and politician Nicolae Iorga (Chairman of the Commission for Historical Monuments), at her request, he told her in detail the history of the monastery. On her way back, travelling by car, she visited this place and decided, as a priority, to renovate the monastery. Forgotten by times and by people, the place was almost completely destroyed, and the birds of the sky were the only beings who lived here. Without a roof, the painting was mostly degraded due to rain and snow and the interior was seriously damaged, requiring an urgent restoration. The renovation work lasted a few years in order to give back this holy place its splendor, but the renovation was limited mostly to the church and not to the entire monastery. At that time, Titus Locuşteanu was the priest of the village, and his father, who was also a priest, took part in the renovation works, initially being the parish priest of this church. In 1932, the church officially reopened to receive the faithful. After decades of suffering, oblivion and ruin, the Jitianu Monastery becomes a new monastery complex. The last renovation work began in 2010, under the direct guidance of the metropolitan bishop of OItenia, Father Irineu, and during the current monastic community made of eight monks, led by Nifon Văcăruş, the abbot of the Holy Monastery. Source: https://locuridinromania.ro/judetul-dolj/comuna-podari/manastirea-jitianu.html http://www.manastireajitianu.ro

"Sunday of All Saints" Church The All Saints Monastery is the oratory of the Metropolitan Church of Craiova. The wooden church was built by the monk Daniil from the Tismana Monastery, in 1784, as the church of his native village, Talpasesti, Gorj county. The small church had a troubled history that involved theft and rebuilding. At the end of 1821, it was robbed by the Turkish armies who came here to stifle the revolution of Tudor Vladimirescu. Several objects of worship have been stolen. In the autumn of the following year, the church will be restored by the locals and the restorers Ciaus Matei Corneanu and Constantine Chilea. In 1860, the "All Saints" Church in Tălpăşeşti village underwent important transformations, being totally restored by the master painter "Dimitrie ot Corneşti", known in the area for having renovated several worship places. Thus, the church changed its roof, as well as the interior and the exterior painting that was restored using tempera paint. Since 1894, the locals' interest in the small wooden church has declined since in the village began the construction of a new church made of stone, open in 1905. Starting with this year, the wooden church was abandoned, and in time it degraded. As a solution to this problem, the Archdiocese of Craiova decided to relocate the church from Tălpăşeşti, Gorj county, to Craiova, in the courtyard of the Archdiocese. The resettlement work was coordinated by the patriarch Teoctist who had hardly obtained the approvals of the local authorities for this action. In 1975, the church was brought to the Archidiocese's courtyard, and in 1976 the reassembly works were completed. The wooden elements were replaced with the help of the specialists, the students of the Theological Seminary of Craiova and the wood craftsmen from the village of Tălpăşeşti, the Archdiocese staff, etc. It became a metropolitan oratory once the reassembly and the consolidation works were completed in 1976. The space is unique by the painted and carved decoration. It is embellished by an impressive picture on a green-blue background, the representations of the saints being particularly expressive. In time, the heritage of the "All Saints" oratory expanded with over 100 icons made by famous painters such as Ion Manta, Constantin Zugravul, Matei Zugravul, or Chirita Zugravul. In the interior of the church is the painting bearing the seal of the priest "Dimitrie ot Corneşti Zugravu 1860, April 9". Sources: http://www.mitropoliaolteniei.ro/?page_id=23534 https://www.crestinortodox.ro/manastiri/manastirea-tuturor-sfintilor-paraclis-mitropolitan-117939.html

Titular Saint: The Entry of Virgin Mary into the Church The monastic settlement from Cârcea, dedicated to Saint Anthony the Great and to the feast in the honour of The Entry of Virgin Mary into the Church, is located about ten kilometers from the town of Craiova. The foundation stone was laid in 1957, but the place was consecrated only in 1992 by Metropolitan Bishop of Oltenia Nestor Vornicescu. Today it functions as a monastery for nuns, the community being led by the nun Eleonora Cristofir. The history of the place says that here, centuries ago, it was a monastic settlement for monks. There is also a large stone cross, with Cyrillic inscriptions, not far from the entrance to the present church. Source: Surse: http://www.mitropoliaolteniei.ro/?page_id=23540 https://www.infopensiuni.ro/cazare-craiova/obiective-turistice-craiova/manastirea-carcea_2397 https://www.biserici.org/index.php?menu=BI&code=2768

The Murgasu Church was built between 1807-1811. The church was painted on the outside only on the porch after the construction was completed in 1811. The church was recently restored and both the frescoes from the outside and from the inside of the porch were repainted. In 2008, the preservation condition of the church was satisfactory. Source: http://cimec.ro/Monumente/LacaseCultPictExt/RO/Documente/ASP/detaliu.asp?k=18885-1

St Nicholas Church - The church with exterior paintings The church with the original patronage "Saints Nicholas and Basil" (Sfinţii Nicolae şi Vasile) was erected in 1816. Dating back in the same year, the painting of the building has the facades fully painted with characters and various scenes. The old exterior painting, contemporary to the inscription "1816 July 16", visible above the entrance to the church, is preserved to a large extent (on the porch facade and on some portions of the southern and northern facades); the painting inside the porch, dating back to 1816, is also relatively well preserved. At the end of 2008, the preservation of the exterior painting of the church was in a degraded condition, and the church in a partially deteriorated conservation condition. Source: http://cimec.ro/Monumente/LacaseCultPictExt/RO/Documente/ASP/detaliu.asp?k=18847-1

The Coşuna Monastery is located in Craiova and is one of the most important buildings, visited by hundreds of tourists daily. The Coşuna Monastery is the oldest worship building in Craiova, that the authorities managed to conserve quite well. Only the church was preserved, the surrounding buildings of the monastery were completely destroyed by fires, earthquakes and floods. Building the monastery required using resilient materials, such as stone and brick. Combining the Byzantine elements and the traditional Romanian ones creates a totally unique architecture, that draws the admiration of the visitors. The Cosuna monastery was built on December 3, 1572, according to a documentary attestation. Another documentary attestation is that it was built in 1483. Cosuna Monastery - Bucovatul Vechi (Old Bucovat) was erected in 1483, and the church was built between 1506-1512. The current church dates back to 1572, from the time of the reign of Prince Alexandru II Mircea, when the boyar Stefan and his son, Parvu, built it under the patronage of Saint Hierarch Nicholas. The initial name of the monastery is "Coşuna", as it appears in a document belonging to Eftimie, the metropolitan bishop of Wallachia (January 1574) and in a document of voivode Michael the Brave (February 1574). This name comes either from the Slavic word meaning "grassland," or from a Latin word meaning "fable", or from the fact that here used to descend people from the mountains, who made traditional woven baskets. Source: https://locuridinromania.ro/judetul-dolj/orasul-craiova/manastirea-cosuna.html https://www.crestinortodox.ro/biserici-manastiri/manastirea-cosuna-bucovatul-vechi-137007.html