“Three Hierarchs” Monastery

In 1641, two years after finalising the church, the relics of Saint Parascheva were brought from Constantinople. This transformed the monastery into a pilgrimage site for all Christian Orthodox of the Balkans. The church is a masterpiece of the Moldavian style, with oriental influences featured in the unique exterior stone lace, with Persian vases, Georgian and Armenian geometrical motifs, lily flowers, colonettes etc. The middle part is dominated by a spiral with three fascicles on a black background, symbol of infinity and divinity. The iconostasis was sculpted in Carrara marble; the chandeliers, and the furniture were made in Vienna in bronze decorated with ivory and precious stones. The legend says that the Turks have set the church on fire in order to recover the gold which presumably coated all the exterior decorations. (PHOTO : Mihai BULAI)