# Monasteries and churches — tourist attractions in Romania [Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/attractions) › [Categories](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/categories) > Places of worship, painted monasteries and fortified churches. Places of worship are perhaps the most widespread kind of attraction, and each region has a church type of its own. The most sought-after monasteries in Romania, those with painted outer walls, are the speciality of Bukovina, built in the 15th and 16th centuries under Stephen the Great and his successors; Maramureș has kept its wooden churches with tall spires; southern Transylvania has the fortified churches of the Saxons, and Oltenia the Brâncovenesc monasteries. Many are on the UNESCO World Heritage list and almost all are still in use: visitors are asked to dress modestly and keep quiet. In [Bukovina](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/bucovina), [Voroneț Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-voronet) and [Sucevița Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-sucevita) are among the best-known painted churches. In [Maramureș](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/maramures), the [Bârsana Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-barsana) is a good starting point. Transylvania offers the [Biertan Fortified Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-fortificata-din-biertan) and [the Black Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-neagra) in Brașov, while Oltenia has [Horezu Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-horezu), founded by Constantin Brâncoveanu. ## Tourist attractions 54 attractions - [Voroneț Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-voronet) — Monasteries and churches · Voroneț, SV · 10 lei · ½ – 1 hours · UNESCO World Heritage · Top 20 The church founded by Stephen the Great in 1488, painted on the outside with the Last Judgment on a background of "Voroneț blue"; a UNESCO site near Gura Humorului. - [Biertan Fortified Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-fortificata-din-biertan) — Monasteries and churches · Biertan, SB · ½ – 1 hours · UNESCO World Heritage · Top 20 The Saxon church on the hill in the middle of the village, guarded by three rings of walls and towers; inside, Romania's largest polyptych altarpiece and a door with a lock from 1515. - [Coronation Cathedral](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/catedrala-incoronarii) — Monasteries and churches · Alba Iulia, AB · Free · 45 min · Top 100 The Orthodox cathedral inside Alba Carolina Fortress, built in 1921–1922 for the coronation of Ferdinand and Marie as king and queen of Greater Romania, with a 58 m bell tower and royal portraits in fresco. - [Câlnic Fortress](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetatea-calnic) — Fortresses and fortifications · Câlnic, AB · UNESCO World Heritage · Top 100 A 13th-century count's residence, bought by the Saxon villagers in 1430 and turned into a peasant fortress: a Romanesque keep, two rings of walls and a chapel, in a valley near Sebeș. - [St Michael's Cathedral](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/catedrala-romano-catolica-sfantul-mihail) — Monasteries and churches · Alba Iulia, AB · Free · 45 min · Top 100 Romania's oldest and longest cathedral, Romanesque and Gothic, at the heart of the Alba Carolina Fortress; it holds the tomb of John Hunyadi and the first Renaissance chapel in Transylvania. - [Dârjiu Fortified Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-fortificata-din-darjiu) — Monasteries and churches · Dârjiu, HR · 10 lei · UNESCO World Heritage · Top 100 The only Székely and Unitarian church in the UNESCO fortified-church site: a Gothic church with 1419 frescoes of the legend of Saint Ladislaus, whose fortress villagers still use to store their bacon. - [Prejmer Fortified Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-fortificata-din-prejmer) — Monasteries and churches · Prejmer, BV · 30 lei · 1 – 1½ hours · UNESCO World Heritage · Top 100 One of the largest Saxon fortified churches: a Gothic church on a cross-shaped plan, ringed by an oval wall with over 270 refuge rooms reached by timber galleries. - [Saschiz Fortified Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-fortificata-din-saschiz) — Monasteries and churches · Saschiz, MS · 10 lei · UNESCO World Heritage · Top 100 A Late Gothic Saxon church beside the DN13, with a bell tower modelled on Sighișoara's Clock Tower; on the hill above the village stand the walls of a 14th-century peasant fortress. - [Valea Viilor Fortified Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-fortificata-din-valea-viilor) — Monasteries and churches · Valea Viilor, SB · 8 lei · UNESCO World Heritage · Top 100 The Saxon church in a vineyard valley near Mediaș, with its choir turned into a defence tower, an almost intact oval wall and a wood-and-iron portcullis that has survived for centuries. - [Viscri Fortified Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-fortificata-din-viscri) — Monasteries and churches · Viscri, BV · 20 lei · UNESCO World Heritage · Top 100 A small white church on the hill above the village, grown from a 12th-century Romanesque chapel and ringed by walls, towers and grain galleries, in a Saxon village that has survived almost intact. - [Mălâncrav Fortified Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-fortificata-din-malancrav) — Monasteries and churches · Mălâncrav, SB A 14th-century Gothic church built by the noble Apafi family, with the largest ensemble of Gothic frescoes in Transylvania and a polyptych altarpiece that has stood in place for more than five centuries. - [Sucevița Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-sucevita) — Monasteries and churches · Sucevița, SV · 1 – 1½ hours · UNESCO World Heritage The Movilă family's fortified monastery, built in the 1580s among the hills of Bukovina, with a church painted almost entirely inside and out and the famous "Ladder of Virtues"; a UNESCO site. - [Cisnădioara Fortified Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-fortificata-din-cisnadioara) — Monasteries and churches · Cisnădioara, SB · 10 lei A Romanesque basilica from the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, left almost unaltered, on the rocky top of St Michael's Hill, ringed by a defensive wall and looking out to the Făgăraș Mountains. - [The Black Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-neagra) — Monasteries and churches · Brașov, BV · 30 lei · 45 min Romania's largest Gothic church, built by the Saxons of Brașov between 1383 and 1477; inside are the 1839 Buchholz organ and a rare collection of Anatolian carpets. - [Humor Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-humor) — Monasteries and churches · Mănăstirea Humorului, SV · ½ – 1 hours · UNESCO World Heritage The church built in 1530 by chancellor Toader Bubuiog under Petru Rareș, painted outside in shades of red, with an open porch and Vasile Lupu's tower; a UNESCO site. - [Maria Radna Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-maria-radna) — Monasteries and churches · Lipova, AR · ½ – 1 hours The largest Baroque pilgrimage church in western Romania, its 67-metre towers rising above the Mureș, with a miracle-working icon and corridors covered in votive paintings. - [People's Salvation Cathedral](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/catedrala-mantuirii-neamului) — Monasteries and churches · București · Free · ½ – 1 hours Romania's National Cathedral, on Arsenal Hill next to the Palace of the Parliament: a 127 m Neo-Byzantine church with its altar consecrated in 2018 and its painting consecrated in 2025, open to visitors only in announced periods. - [Alma Vii Fortified Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-fortificata-din-alma-vii) — Monasteries and churches · Alma Vii, SB A small Saxon stronghold on the hill of a village at the end of the road, with four restored towers housing small museums of village life; winner of a Europa Nostra award in 2024. - [Arbore Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-arbore) — Monasteries and churches · Arbore, SV · 45 min · UNESCO World Heritage The church built in 1502 by Hetman Luca Arbore, with no tower and exterior frescoes from 1541 dominated by green; a UNESCO site, today the church of Arbore Monastery. - [Ascension Cathedral (Roman Catholic Cathedral)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/catedrala-romano-catolica-satu-mare) — Monasteries and churches · Satu Mare, SM · Free · 30 min The Cathedral of the Ascension, rebuilt in neoclassical style between 1830 and 1837: a portico of six Corinthian columns and two towers dominate Piața Libertății, and inside lies the tomb of a martyr bishop. - [Bârsana Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-barsana) — Monasteries and churches · Bârsana, MM · 30 min · UNESCO World Heritage Bârsana's old wooden church, dating from 1711, stands on Jbâr Hill in an orchard full of crosses; inside is Toader Hodor's Baroque painting of 1806. A UNESCO site. - [Brâncoveanu Monastery of Sâmbăta de Sus](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-brancoveanu-sambata-de-sus) — Monasteries and churches · Sâmbăta de Sus, BV · 1 – 1½ hours Orthodox monastery founded by Constantin Brâncoveanu below the Făgăraș Mountains: the church rebuilt in 1926–1946 on its old foundations, an icon museum and a new Brâncovenesc-style precinct. - [Brâncoveni Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-brancoveni) — Monasteries and churches · Brâncoveni, OT · ½ – 1 hours A convent in Olt, in the village that Matei Basarab and Constantin Brâncoveanu came from: defensive wall and bell tower of 1634–1640, a Brâncovenesc great church of 1699, and a museum with a lapidary. - [Budești Josani Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-budesti-josani) — Monasteries and churches · Budești, MM · UNESCO World Heritage The 1643 Church of Saint Nicholas in the Cosău Valley, with a slender tower framed by four small turrets, paintings by Alexandru Ponehalschi and the chain mail attributed to the outlaw Pintea the Brave. A UNESCO site. - [Căluiu Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-caluiu) — Monasteries and churches · Călui, OT · 45 min A sixteenth-century foundation of the Buzești boyars, tucked into a valley in Olt County: a church with the votive painting of Michael the Brave, the Buzești tombs and a brick enclosure wall. - [Cașin Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-casin) — Monasteries and churches · Mănăstirea Cașin, BC · 45 min A foundation of Prince Gheorghe Ștefan from 1655–1657: a dressed-stone church inside a walled enclosure with towers, near Onești; today a parish church. - [Cathedral of Saint Alexander in Alexandria](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/catedrala-sfantul-alexandru-alexandria) — Monasteries and churches · Alexandria, TR · Free · 30 min The cathedral of the Diocese of Alexandria and Teleorman, built between 1869 and 1898 in the town centre: a three-towered brick church painted in 1898 by Ștefan Luchian and Constantin Artachino, and a listed historic monument. - [Comana Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-comana) — Monasteries and churches · Comana, GR · 45 min A fortified lowland monastery founded by Vlad the Impaler in 1461 and rebuilt by Radu Șerban in 1588, with thick walls, a Brâncoveanu-style loggia and the church of St Nicholas, on the edge of the Comana marsh. - [Cristian Fortified Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-fortificata-din-cristian) — Monasteries and churches · Cristian, BV A Saxon church fortress in the Burzenland, near Brașov: a 19th-century Neoclassical church ringed by a double medieval wall with eight surviving defensive towers. - [Desești Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-desesti) — Monasteries and churches · Desești, MM · UNESCO World Heritage A wooden church from 1770 dedicated to Saint Paraskeva, painted in 1780 by Radu Munteanu with a crowded Last Judgement; one of the eight Maramureș churches on the UNESCO World Heritage List. - [Hărman Fortified Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-fortificata-din-harman) — Monasteries and churches · Hărman, BV · 20 lei A 13th-century Romanesque basilica enclosed by 12 m walls with seven towers, with the tallest bell tower in the Burzenland and a chapel of 15th-century Gothic frescoes. - [Horezu Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-horezu) — Monasteries and churches · Horezu, VL · 1 – 1½ hours · UNESCO World Heritage 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. - [Huși Episcopal Cathedral](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/catedrala-episcopala-husi) — Monasteries and churches · Huși, VS · Free · 45 min The Church of Saints Peter and Paul, founded by Stephen the Great in 1495 and rebuilt in the 18th century: the cathedral of the Diocese of Huși, with the voivode's inscription preserved and a historic walled precinct. - [Ieud Hill Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-ieud-deal) — Monasteries and churches · Ieud, MM · UNESCO World Heritage The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin on Ieud's rocky hillside, built in 1611–1621, painted inside by Alexandru Ponehalschi and the place where the Ieud Codex was found. A UNESCO site. - [Metropolitan Cathedral of the Three Holy Hierarchs](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/catedrala-mitropolitana-timisoara) — Monasteries and churches · Timișoara, TM · Free · 30 min The Orthodox cathedral of the Banat, built between 1936 and 1946 in the Neo-Moldavian style, with a main tower of over 80 m, glazed-tile roofs and a museum of old church art in the basement. - [Moldovița Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-moldovita) — Monasteries and churches · Vatra Moldoviței, SV · 1 – 1½ hours · UNESCO World Heritage Founded by Petru Rareș in 1532, with a church painted on the outside in shades of yellow and blue and the famous Siege of Constantinople fresco; a UNESCO site in Bukovina. - [Moon Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-cu-luna) — Monasteries and churches · Oradea, BH · Free · 30 min The Orthodox church of the Dormition of the Mother of God in Piața Unirii, built in 1784–1790 and known for the globe in its tower that shows the phases of the Moon, in a mechanism of 1793. - [Negoiești Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-negoiesti) — Monasteries and churches · Negoești, CL · 45 min A foundation of 1648–1649 by Matei Basarab and Lady Elina on the bank of the Argeș: a three-towered church with 19th-century frescoes, restored with EU funds and reconsecrated in 2016. - [Pătrăuți Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-patrauti) — Monasteries and churches · Pătrăuți, SV · UNESCO World Heritage The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, built by Stephen the Great in 1487: his oldest surviving foundation, with the "Cavalcade of the Holy Cross" fresco; a UNESCO site near Suceava. - [Plătărești Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-plataresti) — Monasteries and churches · Plătărești, CL · 45 min A foundation of Prince Matei Basarab, 20 km from Bucharest: a brick church built in 1642–1646, with original frescoes from 1649 in the narthex, preserved only here and at Arnota. - [Popăuți Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-popauti) — Monasteries and churches · Botoșani, BT · 30 min The Church of St Nicholas, built by Stephen the Great in 1496: the oldest church in Botoșani, of bare red brick, with a stone bell tower from the same period. - [Probota Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-probota) — Monasteries and churches · Probota, SV · UNESCO World Heritage Peter Rareș's 1530 foundation and his family's burial place, with the fresco-painted church of St Nicholas inside fortress-like walls; a UNESCO site near Dolhasca. - [Rogoz Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-rogoz) — Monasteries and churches · Rogoz, MM · UNESCO World Heritage The Church of the Holy Archangels in Rogoz, built in 1663 and part of the Maramureș UNESCO site, has an asymmetric roof over the 'table of the ancestors', horse-head eaves brackets and paintings from 1785. - [Roman Catholic Basilica of Oradea](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/bazilica-romano-catolica-oradea) — Monasteries and churches · Oradea, BH · Free · 30 min The Cathedral of the Assumption, built between 1752 and 1780: the largest Baroque church in Romania, with an organ given by Maria Theresa and an interior of marble, frescoes and gilding. - [Roman Catholic Dome of St George](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/domul-romano-catolic-timisoara) — Monasteries and churches · Timișoara, TM · 30 min The Baroque cathedral of the Catholic bishopric of Timișoara, built between 1736 and 1774 on Union Square; restored with EU funds and reopened in April 2023, with the bishops' crypt under the altar. - [Sfânta Precista Fortified Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-fortificata-precista-galati) — Monasteries and churches · Galați, GL · Free · 30 min The oldest building in Galați, a merchants' church consecrated in 1647, with walls up to 1.8 m thick, a bell tower and a fortified loft with 28 loopholes, on the bank of the Danube. - [Sfinții Voievozi Monastery, Slobozia](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-sfintii-voievozi-slobozia) — Monasteries and churches · Slobozia, IL · Free · 30 min The oldest monastery in the Bărăgan, founded by the Grand Postelnic Ianache Caragea and rebuilt by Matei Basarab, with a 17th-century brick enclosure wall and a bell tower you enter through. - [St John the New Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-sf-ioan-cel-nou-suceava) — Monasteries and churches · Suceava, SV · UNESCO World Heritage The former metropolitan cathedral of Moldavia, built in 1514–1522 in the centre of Suceava and home to the relics of St John the New; its church of St George is a UNESCO site. - [St Nicholas Church in Șchei](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-sfantul-nicolae-din-schei) — Monasteries and churches · Brașov, BV · 45 min The Orthodox church of the Romanians of Șcheii Brașovului, built from 1495 on the site of a wooden one, with Gothic-Baroque towers, painted façades and Nicolae Titulescu's grave in the churchyard. - [Stavropoleos Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-stavropoleos) — Monasteries and churches · București · Free · 30 min A small convent in the Old Town with a Brâncoveanu-style church from 1724, façades painted with saints in medallions, an arcaded courtyard and a lapidary of stones from vanished Bucharest churches. - [Vaslui Princely Court (Curtea Domnească din Vaslui)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/curtea-domneasca-vaslui) — Monuments and historic sites · Vaslui, VS · 45 min An archaeological park laid out on the site of Moldavia's princely court in Vaslui, with the Church of the Beheading of St John the Baptist, a foundation of Stephen the Great from 1490, in the town centre. - [Wooden Church of Plopiș](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-plopis) — Monasteries and churches · Plopiș, MM · Free · UNESCO World Heritage An oak church built by the village's 49 families at the end of the 18th century, with a slender tower of almost 47 m and a trefoil vault unique among wooden churches, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. - [Wooden Church of Poienile Izei](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-poienile-izei) — Monasteries and churches · Poienile Izei, MM · UNESCO World Heritage An early 17th-century wooden church in the village cemetery, with the best-known depiction of Hell in Maramureș: devils, torments and village sins, painted in 1793–1794. - [Wooden Church of Șurdești](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-surdesti) — Monasteries and churches · Șurdești, MM · UNESCO World Heritage The oak-built Greek Catholic church of Șurdești village, with a 54-metre tower and a total height of 72 metres, one of the tallest old timber buildings in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage monument. --- Full page: https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastiri-si-biserici Other languages: Română: https://peplaiuri.ro/manastiri-si-biserici.md · Deutsch: https://peplaiuri.ro/de/manastiri-si-biserici.md · Italiano: https://peplaiuri.ro/it/manastiri-si-biserici.md Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania