Curtea de Argeș Monastery is an Orthodox monastery in the town of Curtea de Argeș. It was built between 1515 and 1517 by Neagoe Basarab and is included on the List of Historic Monuments of Romania.
The monastery is of great importance for our country, as it was turned in the time of Carol I into the necropolis of the Romanian royal family. Besides the tombs of Kings and Queens Carol I and Elisabeth, Ferdinand and Marie, Carol II and Helen, and Michael and Helen, the relics of Saint Filofteia are also kept here.
Unfortunately, it was partly destroyed by the fires of 1866 and 1867, which damaged the seminary buildings, the dwellings, the chapel and the entrance tower. On the initiative of King Carol I, the monastery underwent a restoration that began in 1875 and was completed 9 years later, when construction of the royal palace began, later turned into the episcopal palace.
The monastery was built on the initiative of Neagoe Basarab, who wanted a monument of matchless beauty, and decided to raise it on the foundations of an older place of worship, the First Metropolitan See of Wallachia. Unfortunately, for lack of money and time, the painting of the church was not finished before Neagoe Basarab passed away. However, the ruler’s son-in-law, Radu de la Afumați, was the one who authorised the continuation of the decoration of the foundation.
Besides its architectural beauty and splendour, the legend behind the monastery is considered an important attraction for tourists. Near the monastery is Master Manole’s fountain, Manole being the hero of several folk ballads. It is said to have appeared when the ruler asked the 10 master builders whether they could build a more beautiful monastery than this one. They answered yes, so to prevent this he ordered the scaffolding on which the masters stood to be torn down. They were left stranded on the roof and made themselves wings out of wooden shingles, hoping to come down unharmed with their help. Unfortunately, they all died, and where Master Manole fell a spring appeared, today’s fountain.
The legend says that Master Manole walled his wife into the walls of the monastery, because in trying to build the monastery he met all kinds of difficulties: whatever he built by day collapsed at night. So he resorted to the ultimate sacrifice and decided to sacrifice his wife in order to raise the building.
The interior of the monastery is just as fascinating, with countless features that will catch your eye: paintings in oil by the French painters F. Nicolle, Ch. Renouard and N. Constantinescu, the tombs of the founders, icons made in mosaic, and the group of 12 floral-ornamented columns representing the 12 Holy Apostles.
The church was consecrated on 15 August 1517, on the Dormition of the Mother of God, which gave the holy building its patron feast. Important personalities, courtiers and boyars attended the service, as did the Patriarch of Constantinople, whose participation was seen as an occasion and a way of affirming the unity of Orthodoxy.
