Cozia Monastery
Cozia Monastery, erected close to Călimănești by Mircea cel Bătrân in 1388 and housing his tomb, is one of the most valuable monuments of national medieval art and architecture in Romania.
Contents |
[edit] History
The name of the monastery is of Cuman or Pecheneg origin and it means "walnut grove", from Turkic word koz, meaning walnut.[1] The original name of the place was the Romanian equivalent, Nucetul, but already in 1387, a document of Mircea cel Bătrân uses the current name.[1]
The appearance of the compound was modified under Neagoe Basarab (1517), Şerban Cantacuzino and Constantin Brâncoveanu (1707), who added a veranda, a new fountain, a chapel and a watch tower, adding to its architecture the 'brâncovenesc style'.
The wall facets' decorations with stone rosettes, horizontal Byzantine-style rows of brick and stone and vertical frames are unprecedented in Wallachian architecture. The resemblance with Lazarica church indicates that Mircea cel Bătrân has employed Serbian craftsmen from the Morava School.
Of great value is the hospital church, 'bolnița' (1543), with original well-preserved indoor frescoes like the votive portrait of ruler Mircea cel Bătrân and his sons.
Cozia was painted between 1390 and 1391. Some of the original frescoes (1390) are still well preserved.
The church of the monastery was put on a stamp from the Romanian stamp in 1968.
[edit] Museum
Cozia features a museum of exhibiting old art: old manuscripts and prints, embroideries and objects of worship.
[edit] Burials
[edit] References
- ^ a b Iordan, Iorgu (1963). Toponimia romînească. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne. p. 84. OCLC 460710897.
[edit] External links
- The Cozia Monastery, official site
- (Romanian) Mănăstirea Cozia, at Episcopia Râmnicului
- Virtual Tour of Cozia Monastery
Coordinates: 45°16′18″N 24°18′56″E / 45.27159°N 24.31549°E
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cozia |
 |
This article on an Eastern Orthodox church building in Romania is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
  |
This article about a Romanian Christian monastery, abbey, priory or other religious house is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
