Bârnova Monastery

Bârnova Monastery lies in Bârnova commune, in the forests of the Central Moldavian Plateau south of Iași, below Pietrăria hill, and is reached from the road to Vaslui. Around 1603 Prince Ieremia Movilă had built a wooden church dedicated to St George on the site. The stone monastery was begun by Miron Barnovschi-Movilă, from whom it takes its name: a charter of 11 November 1628 refers to it as "newly built" and dedicated to St John the New. Deposed in 1629 and executed in Constantinople in 1633, Miron Barnovschi did not live to finish the church. The work was completed by Prince Eustratie Dabija and Lady Dafina, who endowed the monastery with books, icons and lamps. Dabija was buried here in 1666, and the narthex keeps the tombstones of him and his daughter, Princess Maria (1677). In 1728 Grigore II Ghica moved his court to Bârnova for a time to escape a fever epidemic in Iași, rebuilt the buildings in the precinct and raised the crenellated wall. The church has a triconch plan in the style of Galata, similar to that of Dragomirna, with two towers: a massive tower over the porch serving as bell tower and for defence (a first in Moldavia, at Miron Barnovschi's churches) and a slender decorated octagonal tower. The interior is divided into porch, narthex, nave and sanctuary, with three arches instead of a wall between narthex and nave. The church is not painted. The precinct, about 102 by 95 m, is enclosed by a stone wall about 5 m high, partly rebuilt in 1985-1987, with the main entrance under the bell tower on the east side. A hybrid lime tree about 660 years old grows in the courtyard and was named "Tree of the Year" in 2011. After the secularisation of 1863 the monastery declined; it was a parish church in 1908-1945 and 1950-1990 and a convent for nuns in 1945-1950. In July 1991 it became a monastery for monks again, and between 2018 and 2023 the complex was restored with European funds. The ensemble (the church, the cells of 1728, the ruins in the precinct, the gate tower and the enclosure wall) is a class A historic monument, code IS-II-a-A-04103. Its feast days are St George (23 April) and St John the New of Suceava (2 June).