The Horezu (also known as Hurezi or Hurez) monastery is the most important religious site founded by the marthyr-lord Constantin Brancoveanu (1688 – 1714).
The written records of the great ruler’ notes, well-kept in the monastery’s library, state that “in my second year in rule I set the foundation and started building up this monastery”.
The church was raised between 1690 and 1693 and the entire monastery is finished by 1697. The compund reflects an original architectural style, specific to the Romanian art of those times. This style will stick and go on and be named after the ruler who initiated it.
The monastery is the largest site of its kind in Romania and is located in a valley next to the river and to a village then called Hurezi (now Romanii de Jos), name later borrowed by the neighbouring town, nowaday’s Horezu.
The central church has Saints Constantin and Elena for patrons. The very special beauty of the church comes not only from its architecture but also from its mural painting, made between 1692 and 1694 by Greek and Romanian painters.
Constantin Brancoveanu founded this monastery with the intent to find his final rest here. Inside the church there is a dedicated, but not used crypt as the lord died in Constantinopole and his body was later burried in the Saint Gheorghe Church in Bucharest. The Horezu monastery is part of the UNESCO world cultural heritage.
Come and discover the Horezu monastery with Romania Color!
