The monasteries of Bucovina · Suceava
1514–1522 · Bogdan III and Ștefăniță Vodă · UNESCO monument
The only UNESCO monument in Bucovina that stands in the middle of a city. It was the metropolitan cathedral for a hundred and fifty years, and it keeps the relics of Bucovina's patron saint, returned from exile after almost a century. On 24 June, Suceava fills with people who arrive on foot.
If you only have a minute
The metropolitan cathedral of Moldavia until 1677, and the only UNESCO monument standing in the middle of a city. It keeps the relics of Saint John the New of Suceava, patron of Bucovina, and on 24 June the city fills with pilgrims.
What you find only here
In 1686, when the Polish army withdrew from Moldavia, it took the relics of Saint John the New with it. They stayed at Zolkiew, in Poland, for ninety-seven years, and returned to Suceava only in 1783, through the intervention of Emperor Joseph II. They are here now, and on 24 June the city fills with people who arrive on foot. It is also the only UNESCO monument in Bucovina that stands in the middle of a city.
Open daily, long hours. The exterior frescoes on the south wall are the best preserved.
The facades have long niches and bands of exposed brick, and the roof keeps its coloured tiles, green and yellow, remade to the original pattern.
You arrive in the courtyard and look around without knowing where. These are 3 places on the walls that people who know look for.
The only part where the exterior painting survived almost whole. The other facades have lost a great deal.
Green and yellow, remade to the original pattern. They show best from a distance, from the courtyard.
The patron of Bucovina. On 24 June the largest pilgrimage in the region gathers around it.
Things that are less widely known, and that nobody tells you at the gate.
Until the seat moved to Iași, this was the church centre of Moldavia.
Taken to Zolkiew, in Poland, in 1686, they returned to Suceava only in 1783, through the intervention of Emperor Joseph II.
The largest religious gathering in Bucovina, with tens of thousands of people walking into the city.
If you only have 30 minutes: The south wall and the reliquary.
Quiet, outside the feast days.
24 June is the day of the pilgrimage: tens of thousands of people.
The best light on the roof tiles.
Open, with long hours.
the citadel of Suceava, a 15-minute walk away
next to the citadel
a fortified Armenian monastery
Suggested circuit: Saint John → the princely citadel → the Village Museum → Zamca, a day in Suceava.
Suceava · 68 km from Câmpulung Moldovenesc
Further on
Hours and fees change from one season to the next, and we could not confirm them from an official source.
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No platform commission. Self check-in, late check-out when possible and free cancellation up to seven days before.
Via Transilvanica