Dejani Monastery

Dejani Monastery is an Orthodox monks' monastery set in a clearing on the valley of the Radului River, at the foot of the Făgăraș Mountains, in the village of Dejani, Recea commune, Brașov County, about 21 km from Făgăraș and around 860 m altitude. It belongs to the Archdiocese of Sibiu within the Metropolis of Transylvania. The origins of the settlement are lost in time; the monastery is documented before 1700 and appears in a "Conscription" of 1748, alongside other monasteries of the Făgăraș district — part of a chain of some 37 hermitages and monasteries that then ringed the foot of the Făgăraș range. In June 1761 it was destroyed by fire by the armies of the Austrian general Bucow, on the orders of Empress Maria Theresa, during the campaign against the Orthodox monasteries of Transylvania; the community was scattered, and a few monks took refuge in the monasteries of Argeș. For two centuries the ruins remained a place of pilgrimage. After 1989 the wish to rebuild revived, and in 1992 four monks from the Sihăstria and Sihla monasteries in Moldavia reactivated monastic life. In 1994 the new wooden church was raised, in Moldavian style, built by the craftsman Petre Ciornei from Vatra Moldoviței. The complex includes the main church dedicated to the Protection of the Mother of God, a chapel dedicated to the Transfiguration, a bell tower and monastic cells. Owing to the chapel's patron feast and its altitude, the monastery is nicknamed "the Tabor of the Făgăraș Land". An old icon of Saint Nicholas and a well dated 1320 are preserved here. The monastery is of interest for its wooden architecture, the history of Făgăraș monasticism and the natural setting of the clearing at the foot of the Făgăraș Mountains.