Monasteries Monuments and historic sites

Bistrița Monastery (Vâlcea)

Directions

The great white neo-Gothic church, with two towers, the domed lantern and the entrance with stone steps, seen from the courtyard under a sky with light clouds

Razvan Socol · CC BY-SA 3.0 ro

The old little church, with its shingle roof and painted open porch, and behind it the bell tower and towers of the great church, between wooded hills

ChristianMancas · CC BY-SA 3.0 ro

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Hours today

No data yet

opening hours unknown

Ticket

No data yet

Visit duration

½ – 1 hours

without the cave and the gorge

With kids

Yes

modest dress and quiet

Parking

Yes, free

next to the monastery

Best season

All year round

summer, with the Bistrița Gorges

About Bistrița Monastery (Vâlcea)

Bistrița Monastery, a foundation of the Craiovești boyars, stands in the village of Bistrița, in Costești commune, at the entrance to the Bistrița Gorges. It was built around 1490, and its first written record is the charter of Vlad the Monk of 16 March 1494. Destroyed in 1509 by Mihnea the Evil, it was rebuilt in 1515–1519 by Ban Barbu Craiovescu with the support of Neagoe Basarab. It was Barbu Craiovescu too who brought the relics of St Gregory the Decapolite from Constantinople, the most precious treasure of the monastery.

It was also an important place of learning: the first printing press in Wallachia, that of the hieromonk Macarie, was set up here, and in 1573 Abbot Eftimie wrote the Zapis, the first monastic document written in Romanian. Today's great church, in the neo-Gothic style, was built in 1846–1855, after the earthquake of 1838, and consecrated on 15 August 1855, dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God; its paintings were entrusted to Gheorghe Tattarescu. The monastery was dissolved in 1959, and monastic life resumed in 1984.

Information verified on 29 October 2026.

Don't miss

The neo-Gothic great church of 1846–1855, with paintings by Gheorghe Tattarescu.
The little infirmary church of 1520–1521, the only building left from the Craiovești foundation, with its Brâncovenesc porch of 1710.
The reliquary with the relics of St Gregory the Decapolite, brought here by Ban Barbu Craiovescu.
The masonry loggia on the east side of the precinct, with a view of the wooded slope.
The Bistrița Gorges and the Cave of St Gregory the Decapolite, a short way upstream.

Good to know before you go

Getting there: By car: from Râmnicu Vâlcea it is ~42 km (~1 hour), through the Horezu area, then along the DJ646 towards Costești and the village of Bistrița. From Horezu it is ~12 km (~15–20 min), from Târgu Jiu ~80 km on the DN67 (~1 hour 40 min). It can be combined in one day with Horezu Monastery (~13 km) and the Trovanți Museum in Costești.
Rules: Modest dress: shoulders and knees covered, women with their heads covered in the church. Keep quiet within the walls and switch phones off during services. Photos in the church only with the nuns' permission. At the cave, no flash and no noise, so as not to disturb the bats.
Facilities: accommodation for pilgrims in the precinct · churches and bell tower on uneven ground, with steps