# Monasteries — tourist attractions in Romania [Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/attractions) › [Categories](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/categories) > Monasteries and hermitages, from painted princely foundations to pilgrimage sites. Monasteries are where Romanian medieval art has survived best: princely and boyar foundations from the 14th to the 18th century, with painted churches, fortress-like precincts, museums of icons and embroideries, and the tombs of voivodes. The most visited are the painted monasteries of Bukovina, built under Stephen the Great and Petru Rareș and listed by UNESCO; the Neamț area gathers the largest communities of monks and nuns in the country, Oltenia has the foundations of Constantin Brâncoveanu, and Transylvania the pilgrimage sites of Nicula and Prislop. Almost all are working monasteries: visitors are expected to dress modestly and keep quiet, and some offer a bed for the night in their guesthouse. Parish churches, cathedrals, wooden churches and fortified churches are listed under [Churches](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserici). In [Bukovina](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/bucovina), [Voroneț Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-voronet), [Sucevița Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-sucevita) and [Putna Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-putna), with the tomb of Stephen the Great, can be seen in a single day. In [Moldavia](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/moldova), [Neamț Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-neamt) and [Agapia Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-agapia) lie a few kilometres apart. Oltenia offers [Horezu Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-horezu), founded by Constantin Brâncoveanu, and the Hațeg Country [Prislop Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-prislop), with the grave of Arsenie Boca. ## Tourist attractions 51 attractions - [Voroneț Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-voronet) — Monasteries · 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. - [Sucevița Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-sucevita) — Monasteries · 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. - [Brâncoveanu Monastery of Sâmbăta de Sus](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-brancoveanu-sambata-de-sus) — Monasteries · 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. - [Humor Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-humor) — Monasteries · 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 · 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. - [Putna Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-putna) — Monasteries · Putna, SV · 1 – 1½ hours Stephen the Great's foundation of 1466–1469, the site of his tomb, with the Treasury Tower of 1481 and a museum holding one of the richest collections of medieval embroidery. - [St John the New Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-sf-ioan-cel-nou-suceava) — Monasteries · 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. - [Stavnic Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-stavnic) — Monasteries · Schitu Stavnic, IS · 45 min A monks' monastery south of Iași, founded around 1727, with the ruins of the Vovidenia church bombed in the war and a new adobe church in use. - [Agapia Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-agapia) — Monasteries · Agapia, NT · 1 – 1½ hours One of the largest convents in the country, built in 1641–1643 in the Agapia valley, with a church whose interior was painted by the young Nicolae Grigorescu in 1858–1861. - [Bârsana Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-barsana) — Monasteries · Bârsana, MM · ½ – 1 hours A convent in the Iza Valley, built from 1993 onwards of oak and river stone in the style of the Maramureș wooden churches: a precinct with a ~57 m church, bell tower, abbess's house and gardens. - [Bogdana Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-bogdana) — Monasteries · Rădăuți, SV · 45 min In the centre of Rădăuți, the Church of St Nicholas, founded by Bogdan I around 1360, is the oldest surviving stone church in Moldavia and the resting place of the first Moldavian princes. - [Brâncoveni Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-brancoveni) — Monasteries · 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. - [Căluiu Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-caluiu) — Monasteries · 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. - [Cârța Cistercian Abbey](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-cisterciana-carta) — Monasteries · Cârța, SB · ½ – 1 hours The ruins of the only surviving Cistercian abbey in Romania, built around 1200 in the Early Gothic style, with its choir now serving as an Evangelical church. - [Cașin Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-casin) — Monasteries · 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. - [Cernica Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-cernica) — Monasteries · Cernica, IF · 1 – 1½ hours A monastery for monks built on two islands in Lake Cernica, on the edge of Bucharest: the lavra of St Calinic, with two large churches, a museum and the graves of figures from Romanian culture. - [Comana Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-comana) — Monasteries · 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. - [Coșula Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-cosula) — Monasteries · Coșula, BT · 45 min A monastery from 1535 founded by Grand Treasurer Mateiaș, with the trefoil-plan Church of St Nicholas, an 18th-century bell tower and an abbot's house turned into a museum. - [Cozia Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-cozia) — Monasteries · Călimănești, VL · ½ – 1 hours Mircea the Elder's foundation on the banks of the Olt, consecrated in 1388: the Holy Trinity church, with stone-and-brick façades, a Brâncovenesc porch and the prince's tomb in the narthex. - [Curtea de Argeș Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-curtea-de-arges) — Monasteries · Curtea de Argeș, AG · 1 – 1½ hours Neagoe Basarab's foundation of 1515–1517, with the twisted towers and stone lacework of the legend of Master Manole, and Romania's royal necropolis, from Carol I to Michael I. - [Dealu Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-dealu) — Monasteries · Aninoasa, DB · ½ – 1 hours Radu the Great's foundation on the hill north of Târgoviște, built in 1499–1501: a church clad in dressed stone and a princely necropolis where the head of Michael the Brave is kept. - [Dragomirna Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-dragomirna) — Monasteries · Mitocu Dragomirnei, SV · 1 – 1¼ hours The foundation of Metropolitan Anastasie Crimca (1602–1609), 12 km from Suceava: an unusually tall and narrow stone church enclosed by fortress walls, with a museum of old manuscripts and embroideries. - [Golia Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-golia) — Monasteries · Iași, IS · ½ – 1 hours A fortified monastery in the centre of Iași, with Vasile Lupu's church, unique in Moldavia for its classical facades and seven towers, and a tower almost 30 m high with views over the city. - [Horezu Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-horezu) — Monasteries · 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. - [Lainici Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-lainici) — Monasteries · Bumbești-Jiu, GJ · Free · 45 min A monastery for monks right beside the DN66 in the Jiu Gorge: the painted old church of 1812–1817, the two-level new church and the relics of St Irodion. - [Moldovița Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-moldovita) — Monasteries · 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. - [Neamț Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-neamt) — Monasteries · Vânători-Neamț, NT · 1 – 1½ hours The oldest and largest monastic settlement in Moldavia, recorded since 1407, with the Church of the Ascension built by Stephen the Great and consecrated in 1497. - [Negoiești Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-negoiesti) — Monasteries · 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. - [Nicula Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-nicula) — Monasteries · Nicula, CJ · ½ – 1 hours The hilltop monastery near Gherla that keeps the icon of the Virgin painted in 1681, which wept in 1699; home to the largest pilgrimage in Transylvania, on the Feast of the Dormition. - [Pătrăuți Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-patrauti) — Monasteries · 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 · 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 · 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. - [Prislop Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-prislop) — Monasteries · Hațeg, HD · 1 – 1½ hours A convent in the Hațeg Country, with a stone church rebuilt in 1564 and the grave of St Arsenie of Prislop (Father Arsenie Boca), one of the largest pilgrimage sites in Romania. - [Probota Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-probota) — Monasteries · 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. - [Râșca Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-rasca) — Monasteries · Râșca, SV · 45 min Petru Rareș's 1542 foundation, with the church of St Nicholas painted on the outside too and enclosed by stone walls with a tower; restored with PNRR funds and handed over in May 2026. - [Războieni Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-razboieni) — Monasteries · Războieni, NT · 30 min A small stone church built by Stephen the Great in 1496, twenty years after the Battle of Valea Albă, where the fallen Moldavian soldiers lie; today a convent. - [Rohia Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-rohia) — Monasteries · Rohia, MM · 1 – 1½ hours The Monastery of St Anne in the Lăpuș Land, hidden in a beech and oak forest, where the monk and writer Nicolae Steinhardt lived and is buried, with a library of over 40,000 volumes. - [Săpânța-Peri Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-sapanta-peri) — Monasteries · Săpânța, MM · 45 min A convent in Săpânța, built from 1997 in memory of the old Peri Monastery across the Tisza, with an oak church ~75 m high, regarded as the tallest wooden church. - [Sfinții Voievozi Monastery, Slobozia](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-sfintii-voievozi-slobozia) — Monasteries · 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. - [Sihăstria Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-sihastria) — Monasteries · Vânători-Neamț, NT · 1 – 1½ hours A monastery of monks in the Neamț mountains, founded in 1655, home of the spiritual fathers Cleopa Ilie and Paisie Olaru, whose relics have been open for veneration since 2025. - [Sinaia Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-sinaia) — Monasteries · Sinaia, PH · ½ – 1 hours The monastery built by the sword-bearer Mihail Cantacuzino in 1690–1695 that gave the town its name: the old church with Pârvu Mutu's frescoes, the great church rebuilt for Carol I and a museum holding the Bucharest Bible. - [Slatina Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-slatina) — Monasteries · Slatina, SV · ½ – 1 hours A fortified monastery raised by Alexandru Lăpușneanu in the 1550s, with a perimeter wall and towers, a princely necropolis of Moldavia and today a convent of nuns. - [Snagov Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-snagov) — Monasteries · Snagov, IF · ½ – 1 hours A princely monastery on an island in Lake Snagov, with the exposed-brick church raised by Neagoe Basarab in 1521, paintings from 1563 and the grave that tradition attributes to Vlad the Impaler. - [Solca Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-solca) — Monasteries · Solca, SV · 45 min The Church of Saints Peter and Paul, founded by Ștefan Tomșa II in 1612–1622, one of the tallest in northern Moldavia, surrounded by enclosure walls with towers. - [St Andrew's Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/pestera-sfantul-andrei) — Monasteries · Ion Corvin, CT · ½ – 1 hours A small cave in the woods near Ion Corvin, fitted out as a church, where tradition says the Apostle Andrew lived; a monastery has grown up around it and draws pilgrims on 30 November. - [Stavropoleos Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-stavropoleos) — Monasteries · 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. - [Șumuleu Ciuc (Franciscan Monastery)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/sumuleu-ciuc) — Monasteries · Miercurea Ciuc, HR · Free · ½ – 1 hours The Baroque Franciscan church of Șumuleu Ciuc (Csíksomlyó) holds a 16th-century statue of the Virgin Mary and is the goal of Romania's largest Catholic pilgrimage, at Pentecost. - [Teodoreni Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-teodoreni) — Monasteries · Suceava, SV · 45 min A convent in Suceava's Burdujeni district, founded in 1597 by the postelnic Teodor Movilă: a trefoil church with blind arcading, a gatehouse bell tower and an enclosure wall. - [Tismana Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-tismana) — Monasteries · Tismana, GJ · 1 – 1½ hours The oldest monastery in Wallachia, founded by St Nicodemus in the 14th century on a rocky spur next to a waterfall; Romania's National Bank gold was hidden here from 1944 to 1947. - [Trei Ierarhi Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-trei-ierarhi-iasi) — Monasteries · Iași, IS · 45 min Vasile Lupu's foundation of 1639 in the centre of Iași, its facades covered in lace-like stone carving; the tombs of Cuza and Cantemir are here. - [Văratec Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-varatec) — Monasteries · Agapia, NT · 1 – 1½ hours The largest convent in Romania, home to more than 400 nuns, founded in 1785 in a clearing at the foot of the mountains, where the poet Veronica Micle is also buried. --- Full page: https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastiri Other languages: Română: https://peplaiuri.ro/manastiri.md · Deutsch: https://peplaiuri.ro/de/manastiri.md · Italiano: https://peplaiuri.ro/it/manastiri.md · Français: https://peplaiuri.ro/fr/manastiri.md Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania