The Painted Monasteries of Romania

Not far from our overnight stopping spot of Gura Humorului are several "painted monasteries."  These date from the 15th and 16th centuries and are considered historic enough to be placed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.  We spent the day touring four of them, all within about a thirty mile radius of our "bed and breakfast" location.  The buildings are actually churches and are painted on both the interior and exterior walls with a wide variety of biblical and some non-religious scenes.

The photos include below are a composite from the four sites.  Here are typical markers and notes at our first stop.


The general appearance and architecture of each church is quite similar.


The exterior walls usually feature a "tree of life" and perhaps a scene such as this struggle between the forces of good and evil as humans climb the ladder of life en route to God's judgement.


The churches do not permit interior photography, but somehow I came away with this interior shot.