Magura Things to Do

The Ciolanu monastery holds a museum of interesting religious art.

Collection, founded in 1972, displays paintings by Gheorghe Tattarescu and traditional handmade utensils, farming and pottery-making.

Among the exhibits are also ancient icons executed on wood or glass, worship books and liturgical artifacts.

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Similar to the one of the new church, but smaller, the interior of St. George church was gloomy, but overwhelming.

Despite its small dimensions, because of the dark you can barely see the iconostasis from the entrance.

When we arrived there, at 6 pm, the evening mass was held in the church.

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The frescos of the church were created by the famous painter Nicolae Teodorescu Pitaru in 1830 and later on, his nephew and apprentice, Gheroghe Tattarescu, one of Romania's great painters, made thereof the iconostasis icons: The Saver, the Holy Virgin and St John the Baptist.

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The inside of the church is typical for an Eastern Orthodox one with low light and mysterious.

Although I'm not a huge fan of the Byzantine churches, I could have spent hours admiring the rich decoration of the iconostasis and the beautiful frescos.

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The new church of the monastery was build between 1825 and 1828 by order of metropolitan Chesarie and with the contribution of Buzau Metropolitan Church.

The church is a fine example of the Byzantine architecture.

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The hermitage was founded 1520 by several Orthodox hermits.

The old church, up on the hill, was built in 1590, while the new one, located right in front of the entrance, in 1828 by the metropolitan Chesarie.

At the end of XVII century, due to the barbarian invasions and tough times, the hermitage was abandoned for almost 30 years.

The monastery was rebuilt in 1786 by the hesychaste Vasile of Poiana Marului, who received the mysteries of "the prayer of the heart".

In the second part of the XIX century Ciolanu hermitage received the status of monastery.

Following my visit, I've tried to find some information about the intriguing name of the monastery ("ciolan" means bone), but some say that the name was given by the boyar Dumitru Ciolanu, who erected the hermitage, other say the monastery bears this name because of the bones relics found on this place.