Church & monasteryMoldavia

Probota Monastery: the walled UNESCO church where Petru Rareș rests

Probota Monastery (Mănăstirea Probota) is a Romanian Orthodox monastery in Probota village, near Dolhasca in Suceava County, northern Moldavia. Its church of St Nicholas, finished in 1530 and ringed by thick defensive walls, is one of the Churches of Moldavia on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Probota looks like a small medieval fortress, yet it was built as a family tomb: Prince Petru Rareș broke with tradition and chose it over Putna, which left the monks of Putna deeply offended.

WhereProbota village, Dolhasca, Suceava County, in northern Moldavia, Romania

TypeRomanian Orthodox monastery with a fortified enclosure, church of 1530

Best forMoldavian church architecture, medieval frescoes and princely tombs

Getting thereAbout 40 km from the Seat Fortress of Suceava and about 34 km from Neamț Monastery

The history of Probota Monastery

The story of Probota begins before the present church. A wooden church of St Nicholas, standing in a forest clearing, is recorded in 1391 under Prince Petru Mușat. Alexander the Good later raised a stone church further down the Probota stream, and Stephen the Great buried his mother, Lady Oltea, in a church of this lineage in 1465. A calamity damaged that building, Stephen had it rebuilt, and a landslide finally brought it down; traces of it can still be seen.

The monastery you see today is the work of Petru Rareș, a son of Stephen the Great. He built a new church on a plateau above the Siret valley, about 300 metres west of the older site. A Slavonic inscription on the south wall of the porch records that it was completed on 16 October 1530, and the walls were painted inside and out in 1532. His cousin Grigorie Roșca, the first abbot and later metropolitan of Moldavia, is said to have urged him to build it, and also to make it his burial place instead of Putna, which made the monks of Putna protest loudly. Petru Rareș was buried here in September 1546.

In 1550 his widow, Lady Elena, and their sons enclosed the church with a thick wall and three towers on the east side, so that the monastery came to resemble a medieval fortress. Ștefan Rareș and Elena were later buried in the church, together with several nobles and officials. Probota also became a centre of learning: four scholarly metropolitans of Moldavia worked or took their vows here. Hard times followed. Robbers plundered the monastery in 1622, Vasile Lupu repaired it from 1646, and in 1677 it was handed to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The Greek monks who settled here neglected it, and repairs around 1844 covered much of the original painting.

In 1863 the monastic estates passed to the state and the church became the village parish church. The other buildings decayed, a fire struck early in the 20th century, and villagers carried off stone for their own houses. Careful restoration started in the 1930s. In 1993 the monastery was re-founded as a community of nuns, and in the same year the church was added to the UNESCO list. A restoration programme between 1996 and 2001, funded through a Japanese trust fund for World Heritage, stabilised the paintings and brought to light the original interior fresco of 1532.

Curiosities about Probota Monastery

The enclosure is nearly square, with sides of about 90 metres, and its river-stone walls are about 6 metres high with loopholes and battlements, so a monastery reads like a small citadel.
The Last Judgement on the vault of the porch is described as the first to appear on the wall of a Moldavian church, and its Gothic windows let in only a little light.
On the votive painting, the face of Iliaș, the prince’s heir, was blackened after he converted to Islam.
In 1925 a monk who tried to clean the porch painting wiped the vault with wet cloths and damaged some of the faces.
The outer frescoes of 1532 were the second in the series started by Petru Rareș, painted before the technique was fully mastered, so rain and snow washed most of them away. A few traces survive on the sheltered south wall.
Around 80 per cent of the crypts inside the church were looted in the 18th century, yet archaeologists still recovered jewellery and fine clothing from untouched graves.

Tours near Probota Monastery

Experiences in the area that you can book online with Viator:

Day trip to Republic of Moldova - visit Chisinau and Cricova Winery

★ 4.9 (36 reviews) · 11 h

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Day trip from Iasi to the UNESCO Painted Monasteries in Bucovina

★ 4.9 (33 reviews) · 12 h

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Iasi City Tour

★ 5 (13 reviews) · 6 h

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Adventure day trip from Iasi | Hiking in the Carpathian Mountains

★ 5 (10 reviews) · 10 h

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Visiting Probota Monastery: what to see

The church of St Nicholas is the main sight. Look for the triconch plan, the slim octagonal tower, the blind arcades on the apses and the Gothic porch windows.
Inside, the tomb chamber between the two main rooms holds the marble tombstones of Petru Rareș, his wife Elena and their son Ștefan; the stone of Lady Oltea, Stephen the Great’s mother, was brought here in 1904.
The fortress-like wall, the east gate tower and the corner towers can be seen from the courtyard. The treasury and bell tower in the north-west corner house a small museum of old icons, vestments and finds from the excavations.
Probota is a working community of nuns, so dress modestly and behave quietly. Check the current opening hours before you go.
Neamț Monastery is about 34 km away, Văratec Monastery about 37 km and the Seat Fortress of Suceava about 40 km, so a day tour can combine several of them.

Opening hours, access and conditions can change. Check before you go.

Map: where Probota Monastery is

Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors

Photos of Probota Monastery

Questions

Where is Probota Monastery?

It stands in Probota village, part of the town of Dolhasca, in Suceava County in northern Moldavia. The Seat Fortress of Suceava is about 40 km away.

Why is Probota Monastery a UNESCO site?

In 1993 its church of St Nicholas was added to the World Heritage list, together with seven other painted churches of northern Moldavia, as part of the Churches of Moldavia.

Who built Probota Monastery?

Prince Petru Rareș, a son of Stephen the Great, built the present church, finished in 1530. His cousin Grigorie Roșca, the first abbot, encouraged the project.

Who is buried at Probota Monastery?

Petru Rareș, his son Ștefan Rareș and his wife Elena rest in the church, along with other family members and a number of nobles. The tombstone of Lady Oltea, mother of Stephen the Great, is also kept here.

Why does Probota Monastery have fortress walls?

Lady Elena and her sons had a thick wall with three towers built around the church in 1550, after Petru Rareș died. The wall is about 6 metres high.

Are there frescoes at Probota Monastery?

Yes. The church was painted inside and outside in 1532. Most of the outer painting has faded, but the interior frescoes, especially in the porch and the first room, are well worth seeing.