Rohia Monastery ( ro, Mănăstirea Sfânta Ana Rohia) is a Romanian Orthodox monastery. Named after

Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

, it is located in the northwestern part of

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 ...

, in Rohia, a village administered by Târgu Lăpuș town in Maramureș County. The monastery is situated on a hillside at an altitude of some 500 meters, in the middle of a beech and oak grove. The initiative for founding it came from the priest Nicolae Gherman (1877-1959), whose daughter Ana died in late 1922 at the age of 10. Inspired to start a monastery in her memory, he began work the following year, assisted by hundreds of volunteers. Two years later, a small church and monks' residence were complete. Bishop

Nicolae Ivan Nicolae Ivan may refer to: * Nicolae Ivan (bishop) Nicolae Ivan (; May 17, 1855–February 3, 1936) was a Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, a ...

blessed the monastery in 1926, on the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, to which the establishment was dedicated. Thus, it became among the first monasteries built in the region following the

union of Transylvania with Romania The union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia. The Great Union Day (also called ''Unification Day''), celebrated on 1 December, is a national holiday in Romani ...

, but remained a

skete A skete ( ) is a monastic community in Eastern Christianity that allows relative isolation for monks, but also allows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection. It is one of four types of early monastic orders, al ...

for many years due to its inaccessibility. It expanded after 1970, when an access road was finished and electricity introduced. The monastery is noted as the place where writer

Nicolae Steinhardt Nicolae Steinhardt (; born Nicu-Aurelian Steinhardt; July 29, 1912 – March 29, 1989) was a Romanian writer, Orthodox monk and lawyer. His main book, ''Jurnalul Fericirii'', is regarded as a major text of 20th century Romanian literature and ...

lived as a monk from 1980 until his death in 1989.Dinu Gherman
"Rohia, raiul pământesc al lui Steinhardt"
in ''România Liberă'', April 11, 2007

Notes

External links

Official site
{{Coord, 47.4108, 23.8824, type:landmark_region:RO, display=title Romanian Orthodox monasteries of Transylvania Tourist attractions in Maramureș County Buildings and structures in Maramureș County 20th-century Christian monasteries Religious buildings and structures completed in 1923 1923 establishments in Romania Târgu Lăpuș