Cozia Monastery, erected close to

Călimănești Călimănești, often known as Călimănești-Căciulata, is a town in Vâlcea County, southern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Oltenia and the northern part of the county, on the traditional route connecting the region to Tr ...

Mircea the Elder Mircea the Elder ( ro, Mircea cel Bătrân, ; c. 1355 – 31 January 1418) was the Voivode of Wallachia from 1386 until his death in 1418. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and brother of Dan I of Wallachia, after whose death he inherited th ...

in 1388 and housing his tomb, is one of the most valuable monuments of national medieval art and architecture in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

History

The name of the monastery is of

Cuman The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian language, Russian Exonym and endonym, exonym ), were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confede ...

origin and it means "walnut grove", from Turkic word ''koz'', meaning

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

. 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. The fortified cloister dates from the foundation (1388) and is the only in Byzantine style preserved in Romania. Two chapels are incorporated in the side toward the Olt River and their Byzantine cupolas are reflected in the water, creating one of the most iconic cultural - natural landmarks in Romania. The church façades' decorations with stone rosettes, horizontal Byzantine-style rows of brick and stone and vertical frames are unprecedented in

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

n architecture and are typical from the Serbian

Morava School Morava architectural school ( sr, Моравска школа архитeктуре/Moravska škola arhitekture), also known as the Morava style (Моравски стил/Moravski stil), or simply as the Morava school (Моравска школа/M ...

, which flourished in central Serbia between the 14th century and the 15th century. In fact, the strong resemblance with the

Lazarica Lazarica is a village in the municipality of Kruševac, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern an ...

church indicates that

Mircea cel Bătrân Mircea the Elder ( ro, Mircea cel Bătrân, ; c. 1355 – 31 January 1418) was the Voivode of Wallachia from 1386 until his death in 1418. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and brother of Dan I of Wallachia, after whose death he inherited th ...

employed Serbian craftsmen. The appearance of the church was modified under

Neagoe Basarab Neagoe Basarab (; c.1459 – 15 September 1521) was the Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia between 1512 and 1521. Born into the boyar family of the Craioveşti (his reign marks the climax of the family's political influence) as the son of Pârvu Cra ...

(1517), Şerban Cantacuzino and

Constantin Brâncoveanu Constantin Brâncoveanu (; 1654 – August 15, 1714) was Prince of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714. Biography Ascension A descendant of the Craiovești boyar family and heir through his grandfather Preda of a considerable part of Matei Ba ...

(1707), who added a veranda, a new fountain, a chapel and a watch tower, adding to its architecture the ' brâncovenesc style'. 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 Romanian stamp in 1968.

Museum

Cozia features a museum of exhibiting old art: old manuscripts and prints, embroideries and objects of worship. Walls_of_Byzantine_Cozia_Monastery_on_Olt_River_bank,_Romania

Walls_of_Byzantine_Cozia_Monastery_on_Olt_River_bank,_Romania

Burials

Mircea I of Wallachia Mircea the Elder ( ro, Mircea cel Bătrân, ; c. 1355 – 31 January 1418) was the Voivode of Wallachia from 1386 until his death in 1418. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and brother of Dan I of Wallachia, after whose death he inherited th ...

* Carol Hohenzollern

References

External links

The Cozia Monastery
official site, but currently (3 sept 2015) hacked by some malware system. *

at Episcopia Râmnicului
Virtual Tour of Cozia Monastery
{{Authority control Romanian Orthodox monasteries of Vâlcea County Historic monuments in Vâlcea County Museums in Vâlcea County Religious museums in Romania 1388 establishments in Europe Christian monasteries established in the 14th century Place names of Turkish origin in Romania Burial sites of the House of Basarab 14th-century establishments in Romania