Old Church (Biserica Adormirea Maicii Domnului). 시나이아 수도원(Sinaia Monastery. Mănăstirea Sinaia). 시나이아(Sinaia)

Old Church (Biserica Adormirea Maicii Domnului).

시나이아 수도원(Sinaia Monastery. Mănăstirea Sinaia).

시나이아(Sinaia). 루마니아(Romania)

manastireasinaia.ro

The Church "The Dormition of the Holy Virgin Mary"

Sinaia Monastery was built between 1690-1695 by Mihail Cantacuzino. He gave it this name in memory of his pilgrimage to The Holy Land, when he arrived to Saint Catherine's Monastery, on Mount Sinai. He also kept his promise to build here a monastery for the monks of Saint Anne and Saint Nicholas nearby hermitages (built in XVth and XVIth centuries), who helped him in different occasions. The chosen site was a clearing where one of the monks had a vision with an angel choir singing to The Holy Virgin.

 

 The monastery form is unique in Romania, Latin cross (apses in rectangular shape), being one of the first buildings in Romania whose structures, appearances and entirely new things, unprecedented to other churches until then are the origins of the new beautiful Walachian style, of XVIIIth century, the Brancoveanu style. Other elements which give th very different appearnce of the church: profiles' aspect, identically worked, replacing the traditional cornice with red brick dents, the facades' frames, rectangular, with al fresco painted flowers along their and the absence of the traditional belt.

 

 The church is 15 meters long, 15 meters high, 6 meters wide, stone and brick built, with thick walls, sometimes exceeding 1 meter

 

 Painting, extremely valuable, was made by the famous Parvu Mutu, the most important Romanian religious painter.

 

 Unfortunately, the church was burned in 1791, during the Russian-Austrian-Turkish war, so the painting was partially replaced in 1795, by the same painters who redecorated the chapel.

 

 The porch, with beautifully decorated stone columns, is open. The porches' painting is mostly original; the dome presents scenes from the life of Saint Catherine (protector of the monastery on Mount Sinai), Saint George (protector of Moldavia and soldiers) and the Saint Demetrios (protector of Wallachia). Scenes with Heaven and hell frame the entrance to the church.

 

 The entrance in the narthex is carved in stone and represents Moses and his brother, Aaron. The original votive inscription was replaced in 1795.

 

 The nave keeps from the original painting only the scenes of the tower, except the Pantocrator. The votive painting, in the narthex, is the original one, painted by Parve Mutu. Very interesting is the dipiction, in the nave, of the Ascension and Transfiguration of Christ (related to hesychasm) instead of the traditional scenes of the Nativity and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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