Brâncoveni Monastery

About Brâncoveni Monastery

At a glance: Monasteries and churches in Brâncoveni, Olt County. The visit takes ½ – 1 hours. Information verified on 10 October 2026.

Brâncoveni Monastery stands in the village of the same name on the Caracal Plain, on the Brâncoveanu family estate, the home of Prince Matei Basarab and Constantin Brâncoveanu. Monastic life here is old: tradition records a rebuilding in 1494 by the Craiovești boyars, and the oldest surviving document, a donation, dates from 1583. In 1634–1640 Matei Basarab and his nephew Preda Brâncoveanu, grandfather of Constantin Brâncoveanu, rebuilt the foundation with cells, princely houses, cellars, defensive walls and a bell tower, in thanks for a cure obtained with the water of the spring within the precinct.

The great church, dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God, was built in 1699 in place of the small one, on the initiative of Constantin Brâncoveanu, by his sons Constantin and Ștefan, who laid the foundation stone; it was consecrated on 15 August 1699 and its painting was finished in 1704. A year later the infirmary church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel was added, painted by craftsmen from the Hurezi school. After the secularisation of monastic estates in 1864 the community dwindled to a few monks, and in 1959 the monastery was dissolved and turned into an old people's home. It reopened as a convent in 1985, and between 2020 and 2022 the ensemble was restored with European funds.

Good to know before you go

Getting there

By car: the monastery is in the village of Brâncoveni, on the DN64 Slatina–Caracal road, ~20 km south-west of Slatina (~25 minutes) and ~25 km from Caracal. From Craiova it is ~100 km (~1¾ hours), from Bucharest ~190 km (~2½–3 hours, via Pitești and Slatina).

Public transport: the nearest halt is Pârșcoveni, on the Piatra Olt–Caracal railway line, ~6 km from the monastery; you will need a taxi from there. It is simpler to take the Slatina–Caracal bus or minibus and get off in Brâncoveni commune, but check the times beforehand.

Fees & discounts

Neither the monastery nor the Diocese of Slatina and Romanați publishes prices for visiting the museum; ask at the gate.

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. Photography in the church and the museum only with the nuns' permission.

Facilities

museum in the princely houses · lapidary in the cellars · healing spring outside the precinct · library