Râșca Monastery

The monastery is located at the foot of a forested hill in the beautiful and picturesque valley of the Râșca stream.

It is said that here Mihai Eminescu would have written the poem "Loneliness", and a story from the volume "Picturesque Romania" reveals that Alexandru Vlahuță also visited Râșca Monastery.

Initially named Bogdănești, it was founded in 1359 by Bogdan I - voivode of Maramureș and the founder of Moldavia. Destroyed by the Tatars, it was rebuilt in 1511 by the son of Stephen the Great, who was also called Bogdan Voivode. But even this, devastated by the Turks, was rebuilt again in 1540 by Petru Rareș, giving it the name it bears today, Râșca Monastery, after the nearby river.

Although there are other churches from the medieval period with exterior icons in Bukovina, Râșca Monastery is the only one among them painted in a purely Byzantine style.

In the cell of the bell tower wall, which can still be seen today, Mihail Kogălniceanu was imprisoned, by order of Prince Mihail Sturdza, for his political ideas. During his detention, in 1844, he wrote the book "Fragments taken from the Chronicles of Moldavia and Wallachia", published in Iași in 1845.

The monks here, during the Great War, served as nurses on the battlefield, and their cells served as a military hospital, cared for by the elderly monks.

It is worth visiting this place, as it tells you the story of a Christian history but also a literary history!

In the church, there are icons and funerary slabs dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries. Some of the paintings have retained their old appearance. Among these are the portraits of Saint Nicholas and the Multiplication of the Loaves. 

Both the interior and exterior painting were executed between 1553-1554 by the Greek Stamatello Kotronas from Zante. 

On the south facade, one can admire the Stairway to Heaven, the Last Judgment, and the Life of Saint Anthony. 

Also remarkable is the votive painting of Prince Petru Rareș and his family.

By order of Prince Mihail Sturdza, Mihail Kogălniceanu was imprisoned on suspicion of plotting against the ruler, on the first floor of the Tower - bell tower of the monastery. The great politician was held prisoner for 6 months, from July 22nd to December 9th, 1844, being permanently guarded by a sergeant, a corporal, and four soldiers. 

In the 20th century, at Râșca Monastery, lived the future Metropolitan of Transylvania, Antonie Plămădeală, and the Archbishop Calinic of Suceava and Rădăuți, who was also the abbot of the monastery between 1990 and 1991.