Painted Monasteries

We spent a large part of the day in the car. We were driving to the monasteries of Bucovina, which took us through a mountain pass. The views were spectacular. I was surprised to see so many homes of same styles that we had seen at the museum yesterday. Of course they were updated but the basic shape, and wood construction were the same. I guess if a particular design works, you stay with it for five hundred years or so!

The distance to the monasteries was only about 200 km, but we had to drive slowly. The roads are full of pot holes and you never know what you’ll meet around a bend in the road. We met some farmers herding their sheep along the road, another time we met a bunch of cows being herded along, there were many horses pulling carts, and once an old man pushing a wheel barrow of wood! I had a chuckle when we were stopped by police checking to see that we had paid the road tax.

We stopped along the Prislop mountain pass (1400m above sea level) for some lunch. We found a stream and a grassy area that made a perfect spot for our picnic. It was nice to take a little time for a walk and a stretch. Too bad the stream was so cold or we might have dipped our feet.

The area of Bucovina is famous for its painted churches. We made our way to two of them, Voronet and Humor. They are famous for their painted frescos. It’s amazing to think that the paint has stayed on for more than five hundred years!

The insides of the church were also painted. In both churches there were scenes of martyrs dying in all sorts of disgusting ways. There were also scenes of the judgement day with some people being led to heaven, others to hell, angels sitting in judgement, and other angels rolling up the signs of the zodiac, symbolizing the end of time.

CM