# Horezu Monastery

[Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/attractions) › [Oltenia](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/oltenia) › [Vâlcea County](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/valcea) › [Horezu](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/city/horezu)

> Constantin Brâncoveanu's largest foundation, officially Hurezi Monastery: the model ensemble of the Brâncovenesc style, built in 1690–1693 and a UNESCO site since 1993.

[UNESCO World Heritage](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/unesco-heritage)

**At a glance:** Monasteries and churches in Horezu, Vâlcea County. The visit takes 1 – 1½ hours. Information verified on 7 October 2026.

## Key facts

- **Opening hours:** Neither the monastery nor the Archdiocese of Râmnic publishes visiting hours online. As a working convent, visits take place during the day without disturbing the services; check the opening times of the museum collection on site.
- **Visit duration:** 1 – 1½ hours — with infirmary and hermitages
- **With kids:** Yes — modest dress and quiet
- **Best season:** April – October — autumn, with the forests in colour
- **Address:** Strada Mănăstirii 164, Romanii de Jos village, ~3.5 km north of the centre of Horezu, Horezu, Vâlcea County
- **Coordinates:** 45.1688, 24.0071
- **Website:** https://hurezi.arhiepiscopiaramnicului.ro/
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horezu_Monastery
- **Wikidata:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q733069
- **Categories:** [Monasteries and churches](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastiri-si-biserici), [Museums and memorial houses](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/muzee-si-case-memoriale)

## About Horezu Monastery

Horezu Monastery, whose historic and official name is Hurezi Monastery, is the most important foundation of Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu and the largest monastic ensemble surviving in Wallachia. Brâncoveanu laid the foundations in 1690, in the second year of his reign, on his family's estate below the Căpățânii Mountains; the great church was consecrated on 8 September 1693, and the remaining buildings were finished in 1697. The name comes, tradition says, from the huhurezi, the tawny owls whose calls can be heard at night in the surrounding forests.

The prince planned the monastery as his family's burial place and had his own tomb prepared in the narthex. Beheaded in Constantinople in 1714, he was eventually buried in Bucharest, so the tomb at Hurezi remained empty. Beyond its architecture, the monastery was a cultural centre: a rich library and a school of mural and icon painting that influenced religious art across the Balkans. A community of nuns has lived here since 1872. In 1993 the ensemble was inscribed on its own, as a separate site ("Monastery of Horezu"), on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

### What you can see

The great church of Saints Constantine and Helena, white, with two towers and a trefoil plan, has an open porch on ten stone columns carved with tendrils and flowers, with painted vaults. In the narthex is the large votive painting of Brâncoveanu, Lady Maria and their children, alongside portraits of the Basarab and Cantacuzino families, and in the nave the gilded limewood iconostasis and the princely throne. The rectangular courtyard is enclosed by arcaded cells on two levels, the princely apartments with the bell tower above the gate (where the collection of icons and church objects is on display), the chapel and the refectory. Don't miss the loggia of Abbot Dionisie Bălăcescu. Outside the walls are the infirmary church built by Lady Maria and two hermitages.

### Good to know

It is a working convent: enter in modest dress and keep quiet. In May 2026 the canonisation of St Matrona of Hurezi, a former abbess of the monastery, was proclaimed here.

## Don't miss

- The porch of the great church, with its ten carved stone columns and painted vaults.
- The votive painting in the narthex, with Constantin Brâncoveanu, Lady Maria and their children.
- The empty tomb Brâncoveanu prepared for himself in the narthex of the church.
- The loggia of Abbot Dionisie Bălăcescu, with its outside staircase and carved stone balustrade.
- The infirmary ensemble, with Lady Maria's church and the kiosk on the wall, on the hill next to the precinct.

## Good to know before you go

### Getting there

**By car:** from Râmnicu Vâlcea take the DN67 towards Târgu Jiu, ~44 km (~1 hour) to the town of Horezu; from there follow the signs to the village of Romanii de Jos, another ~3.5 km along Strada Mănăstirii. From Târgu Jiu it is ~72 km on the DN67 (~1½ hours), from Bucharest ~225 km via Pitești and Râmnicu Vâlcea (~3½–4 hours), from Craiova ~115 km (~2½ hours). It combines easily with the pottery workshops of Horezu and with Bistrița Monastery.

**Public transport:** Horezu has no railway station; trains run to Râmnicu Vâlcea, from where buses leave for Horezu roughly every hour (~1 hour's journey). From Horezu to the monastery it is ~3.5 km: a taxi or a walk of almost an hour along the paved road.

### Fees & discounts

The monastery's website does not publish prices for visiting, for the museum collection or for photography; 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. Do not take photos in the church without the nuns' permission; do not touch the frescoes or the carved columns.

### Facilities

collection of icons and church objects in the princely apartments · monastic icon workshops · guesthouses, restaurants and pottery workshops in the town of Horezu · the courtyard is level and stone-paved, the church has steps at the entrance

## Details

- **Construction period:** 1690–1693
- **Founder:** Constantin Brâncoveanu
- **Dedication:** Holy Emperors Constantine and Helena
- **Denomination:** Orthodox
- **Architectural style:** Brâncovenesc
- **Collection type:** religious art

## Frequently asked questions about Horezu Monastery

**How long does a visit to Horezu Monastery take?**

A visit to Horezu Monastery takes about 1 – 1½ hours (with infirmary and hermitages).

**Can you visit Horezu Monastery with kids?**

Yes, Horezu Monastery is suitable for children (modest dress and quiet).

**How do I get to Horezu Monastery?**

Horezu Monastery is located at Strada Mănăstirii 164, Romanii de Jos village, ~3.5 km north of the centre of Horezu, Horezu, Vâlcea County. By car: from Râmnicu Vâlcea take the DN67 towards Târgu Jiu, ~44 km (~1 hour) to the town of Horezu; from there follow the signs to the village of Romanii de Jos, another ~3.5 km along Strada Mănăstirii. From Târgu Jiu it is ~72 km on the DN67 (~1½ hours), from Bucharest ~225 km via Pitești and Râmnicu Vâlcea (~3½–4 hours), from Craiova ~115 km (~2½ hours). It combines easily with the pottery workshops of Horezu and with Bistrița Monastery. Public transport: Horezu has no railway station; trains run to Râmnicu Vâlcea, from where buses leave for Horezu roughly every hour (~1 hour's journey). From Horezu to the monastery it is ~3.5 km: a taxi or a walk of almost an hour along the paved road.

**When is the best time to visit Horezu Monastery?**

The best season for Horezu Monastery: April – October (autumn, with the forests in colour).

## Nearby attractions

- [Băile Govora](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/baile-govora) — Resorts and thermal baths · Băile Govora, VL · Free · 2 – 2½ hours · 21 km
  A spa resort in the Vâlcea foothills, with iodine, bromine and sulphur waters, a spa park laid out in 1912 and the Palace Hotel designed by Ernest Doneaud.
- [Polovragi Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/pestera-polovragi) — Caves · Polovragi, GJ · 20 lei · 45 min · 23 km
  A cave more than 10 km long, carved by the Olteț river into the limestone of the Olteț Gorge, with 800 m of gallery open to visitors and legends about Zalmoxis, a kilometre from Polovragi Monastery.
- [Băile Olănești](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/baile-olanesti) — Resorts and thermal baths · Băile Olănești, VL · Free · 24 km
  A spa resort in a wooded valley below the Vâlcea mountains, with more than 30 numbered mineral springs, a springs walk along the river and Horea's wooden church, brought here from the Apuseni Mountains.
- [Women's Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/pestera-muierilor) — Caves · Baia de Fier, GJ · 20 lei · 40 min · Top 100 · 26 km
  A four-level cave in the Galbenul Gorge at the foot of the Parâng Mountains, with 860 m of lit galleries, cave bear bones and some of the oldest modern human remains in Europe.
- [Lotrișor Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cascada-lotrisor) — Waterfalls · Călimănești, VL · 10 lei · 1½ – 2 hours · 32 km
  A waterfall of about 30 m in Cozia National Park, where the stream bursts out of a tunnel cut through the rock; reached on foot along a gentle forest road through the Lotrișor Gorge.
- [Ocnele Mari Salt Mine](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/salina-ocnele-mari) — Salt mines · Ocnele Mari, VL · 60 lei · 2 – 2½ hours · Top 100 · 33 km
  A working salt mine near Râmnicu Vâlcea that you enter by bus through a tunnel: huge galleries with swirling salt walls, sports courts, an ice rink and the country's largest underground church.

---

Full page: https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-horezu
Other languages: Română: https://peplaiuri.ro/manastirea-horezu.md · Deutsch: https://peplaiuri.ro/de/manastirea-horezu.md · Italiano: https://peplaiuri.ro/it/manastirea-horezu.md
Last updated: 7 October 2026
Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania