Princely religious foundations in Wallachia and Mo

August 2024 - we were told to drive to the Transfăgărășan Highway to have guaranteed bear spotting. So we did and drove up to Lacul Vidraru. On the way we saw 5 bears positioned right at the road's shoulder begging for food. We spent the night at a parking lot and spotted a few bears that night. A bit crazy, but also a longlasting memory.

The next morning we drove back south again and arrived quickly in Curtea de Arges to visit the monastery. The outside is astonishing with its candy like columns, the inside however looks way older and typical for romanian orthodox paintings.

We spent about 20 min here and still visited the older Prince Church of St. Nicholas further south which is also worth the stop.

All in all, the TWHS is situated between Transfăgărășan and Horezu, thus on a pearl string of highlites in southern Romania.

Visited December 2018. This church probably will never find its place on WH list; it is beautiful, unique, has its values, but it is enough? The church was built in the first half of the 17th century and is dedicated to three saints: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory Nazianzus and John Chrysostom. It was built in post-byzantine style and features a very rich exterior relief decoration in which you can find influences from all around the world that was known at that time: Turkish, Arab, Persian, Armenian, Georgian, Mauritanian symbols and signs incorporated in the typical Romanian church building. There are in total 30 stripes going horizontally around the whole building.

The walls of the church are tick (around 1 m). The interior is pretty dark, full of paintings, but they are not original. Inside you can also see the tombs of A. Cuza and D. Kantemir, two men very important for the Romanian fight from Turks.

The biggest problem with this church is that it was devastated many times in its history and was reconstructed/rebuilt in the second half of 19th century by Andre Lecomte de Nouy and his team, not according to its original design. Especially its interior lacks authenticity.

The church is located in the centre of Iasy, open every day, and the entrance is free.