The Humor Monastery

The Humor Monastery is one of the oldest and most famous holy places in Bucovina, surrounded by a lively village that has protected it for 500 years. That's how they came into existence. First the monastery, then the village.

Located on the ridge of a hill with trees and meadows, in a landscape of overwhelming beauty, it is one of the greatest attractions of this corner of the country. When you get here, you'll understand why.

 

First of all, you will be amazed by the exterior painting, dominated by the "red of Humor", which you will notice especially in the scene of the siege of Constantinople. The church was painted by Toma from Suceava. Humor is, next to the Voroneț and Moldovița churches, a testimony of the unusual decorative art during the reign of Petru Rareș.

 

The monastery is a jewel in itself, a fresco of the Romanian spiritual world, one of the most important monasteries of the Moldavian Middle Ages, included for its cultural and spiritual value in the UNESCO World Heritage.

 

Although it is part of the constellation of monasteries in Moldavia, this church stands out. It is here that we see for the first time in Moldavian architecture the open porch instead of the usual closed porch and the hiding place overlapping the tombs’ chamber.

The nave has a spherical dome supported by a Moldavian spring system. The tombs’ chamber has a semi-cylindrical vault and here we find a door to the staircase that leads to a secret room: more precisely the hiding place, where the treasure of the church was hidden in case of danger. Between the nave and the altar there is an old wooden iconostasis.

 

Today a handful of nuns live, pray and work here within the walls of the cells. On Sundays you can still see villagers coming to mass in traditional costumes. The Humor Monastery is a ship that comes from the past and heads to the waves of other times.

 

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The Humor Monastery, as we see it today, was built in three stages:

In the first decades of the 15th century, High Steward Ivan built a Monastery at Humor. In 1527, that church collapsed due to unknown reasons. 

In 1530, Great Chancellor Toader Bubuiog began the construction of a new stone church about 300 m to the north-west from the ruins of the old church. This church has lasted to this day.

Then, during Vasile Lupu's reign, the monastery was surrounded with durable stone walls and provided with a massive tower.

 

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The patrimony of Humor Monastery has several objects of documentary and artistic value, among which the following are to be mentioned:

- the artistically carved and gilded iconostasis. There is a cross above it with the following inscription: “This crucifixion was made by Metropolitan Movilă of Suceava, when the abbot of Humor was Archimandrite Anastasius, in the days of Prince Petru Voievod on 15 August 7098” (1590). The inscription refers to Gheorghe Movilă (Mogilă), Metropolitan of Moldavia (1588-1591, 1595-1600 and 1600-1605), as well as to Prince Petru Șchiopul (1574-1577, 1578-1579 and 1583-1591). 

- 6 large icons, painted in the 15th-16th centuries. They represent Christ the Saviour (two), the Mother of God (two), the Assumption and Archangel Michael.

- a royal wooden stall, dating from the 16th century and having a bison head on the back pillars

- an analoghion with the following inscription: “Toma Fântânaru and his wife Boghina made it in September 7053” (1545).

- a small wooden cross with an inscription showing that it was made in 1623

 

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Once they get here, at the Humor Monastery, tourists will also find other sightseeing spots close by: The Arbore, Putna, Voroneț, Slatina, Moldovița, Sucevița Monasteries, but also the Medieval Seat Fortress of Suceava, the Bucovina Village Museum in Suceava, the Cacica Salt Mine, the Decorated Egg Museum in Vama (15,000 decorated eggs), the Museum of Folk Customs in Gura Humorului, the Ariniș Park in Gura Humorului, Ciprian Porumbescu Memorial House etc.