Dormition Church of Vad Monastery

The Church of the Dormition stands in the village of Vad, seat of Vad commune, in northern Cluj County, in the Someș valley about 13 km north-west of Dej. It sits on a small rise next to the village cemetery, with a bust of Stephen the Great in front of it. According to tradition, a hermitage first stood on this site. The present stone church is considered the foundation of a ruler of Moldavia, Stephen the Great or, more probably, Petru Rareș; it has no dedication inscription, so the year of construction is unknown. The church served as a monastery and as the seat of the Orthodox bishopric of Vad; from 1529 a bishop named Anastasie served here. At the beginning of the 17th century it became a parish church. It was rebuilt in 1838, probably when the porch with a wooden bell tower was added. Restoration works and archaeological research took place between 1969 and 1973, and another restoration was carried out between 2000 and 2002. The plan is trefoil, with semicircular side apses, like the Moldavian churches of the first part of Stephen the Great's reign, while the polygonal sanctuary with its stone-ribbed vault and the window and door frames show the influence of Transylvanian Gothic. The west portal has a pointed arch in the Moldavian manner. The old painting has not survived, except for a small fragment in the sanctuary. The church is a category A historic monument, LMI code CJ-II-m-A-07805 (15th century), and belongs to the Romanian Orthodox Church. Did you know that the builders also used stones taken from the ruins of the Roman fort at Cășeiu? Fragments of Roman funerary monuments, with pieces of Latin inscriptions, can still be seen in its walls.