Church & monasteryMaramureș & Bukovina

Putna Monastery: the tomb of Stephen the Great and a Moldavian treasury

Putna Monastery (Mănăstirea Putna) is a Romanian Orthodox monastery in Bukovina, Suceava County, about 33 km north-west of Rădăuți. Founded by Stephen the Great in 1466, it holds his tomb, a rich museum of manuscripts and embroideries, and the start of the Via Transilvanica long-distance trail.

According to a legend recorded by the chronicler Ion Neculce, Stephen the Great shot an arrow from a mountain and ordered the altar of Putna to be raised where it landed.

WherePutna, Suceava County, in Bukovina, northern Romania

TypeRomanian Orthodox monastery founded in 1466, with a fortified enclosure and museum

Best forStephen the Great’s tomb, Moldavian history and a pilgrimage atmosphere

Getting thereAbout 33 km north-west of Rădăuți; Sucevița Monastery is about 13 km away

The history of Putna Monastery

Work on Putna began on 10 July 1466, when Prince Stephen the Great of Moldavia decided to give thanks for a military victory by raising a church. It was dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin. A chronicle records that he bought the village of Vicovu de Sus for 200 zloty and gave its land and income to the monastery. The building went up in about three years and was consecrated in early September by Metropolitan Teoctist, in a ceremony attended by Stephen and his family. It soon became the most important religious centre of the area. The enclosure, the entrance tower and the fortifications were finished in 1481.

Putna was also a school and a workshop. Monks copied manuscripts and illuminated them with fine miniatures, and the monastery became one of the leading cultural and artistic centres of medieval Moldavia. Its greatest role, however, was as the burial place of the prince who founded it. Stephen the Great lies here, along with members of his family, among them his wives Maria of Mangup and Maria Voichița, Bogdan III the One-Eyed and Metropolitan Teoctist. The only building to survive from Stephen’s own time is the Treasury Tower, completed in 1481, which sheltered the monastery’s valuables in times of trouble.

In the 17th century the church was devastated by the troops of Timuș Khmelnytsky. Vasile Lupu began to rebuild it in 1653, work continued under Gheorghe Ștefan and was completed in 1662 under Eustatie Dabija. The chronicler Ion Neculce adds a bitter detail: Cossacks took the lead from the roof to Suceava to make bullets for the defence of the fortress. The new church followed the old Moldavian plan but with several features of 17th-century architecture. Between 1756 and 1760 Metropolitan Iacob Putneanul had the monastery restored. The roof was renewed in 1902 to plans by the architect Karl Romstorfer, and further work took place between 1961 and 1975.

Putna also has a place in modern Romanian memory. In August 1871 a great festival took place here, bringing young Romanians from several regions together. The poet Mihai Eminescu, who took part, called the monastery the “Jerusalem of the Romanian nation”. In 1966 the 500th anniversary of the foundation was marked internationally on the recommendation of UNESCO. The princely house on the south side was rebuilt between 1982 and 1988 on the foundations of the old one, and today Putna is the starting point of the 1,262 km Via Transilvanica, a long-distance trail across ten counties.

Curiosities about Putna Monastery

A legend told by Ion Neculce says that Stephen the Great shot an arrow from a mountain into the valley and decided to build the altar at the spot where it stuck in the ground.
The prince bought the village of Vicovu de Sus for 200 zloty and gave it to the monastery’s treasury, according to a chronicle of the time.
Cossacks took the lead from the roof to Suceava and cast it into bullets for the defence of the fortress, the chronicler Neculce writes.
The gate tower is nicknamed the Eminescu Tower, because the poet and the writer Ioan Slavici slept in its upper room during the festival of August 1871.
The Treasury Tower, finished in 1481, is the only building left from Stephen’s time. The Moldavian coat of arms dated 1471 appears on the east face of the gate tower.
The church is encircled on the outside by a twisted rope moulding, which symbolises the Holy Trinity and is repeated in the interior decoration.

Tours near Putna Monastery

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

Private Maramures Walking Tours

★ 5 (29 reviews) · 4 h

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Bistrița Medieval Landmarks and Saxon Heritage Tour

★ 5 (4 reviews) · 1.5 h

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Piatra Highlights on a Cycle Rickshaw

1.5 h

See details ›

Visiting Putna Monastery: what to see

The church, with its five rooms from porch to altar, combines Byzantine, Gothic and Renaissance elements. The tomb of Stephen the Great is the focus of pilgrims.
The museum shows manuscripts, embroideries, icons and church objects. The embroideries and tombstones are often cited as fine examples of Moldavian art of Stephen’s age.
Walk through the arch of the gate tower, then look for the Treasury Tower, the chapel of Saints Peter and Paul, built in 1759, and the rebuilt princely house.
The surroundings hold several older hermitages. The most notable is a cell cut into the rock, with the pronaos, nave and sanctuary of a church.
Sucevița Monastery is about 13 km away, Moldovița about 23 km, Bogdana about 24 km and Arbore about 29 km. Putna is a working monastery, so check the current opening hours before you go.

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