Suzana Monastery

Suzana Monastery is an Orthodox nun's monastic complex located in the commune of Măneciu, Prahova County, in the Valea Teleajenului, set on a ridge at the foot of Muntele Bobu, near the old border between Muntenia and Transilvania at Bratocea. The monastery was founded around 1740 by Stanca Arșicu, a wealthy Transylvanian woman from Săcele, who took the monastic name Suzana — a name she also gave to the establishment. She rebuilt the ruins of an older settlement, Schitul Cornul Caprii (Valea Caprei), a dependency of Mănăstirea Sinaia that had been destroyed by the Turks at the end of the 17th century, erecting a first church of log timber, dedicated to Saint Nicholas. That small wooden church stood for approximately a century before being replaced in 1840 by a stone construction, built with the support of Bishop Chesarie of Buzău, during the abbacy of Stareța Suzana Albuleț. The present church was built in 1880–1882, and its oil paintings are the work of Petre Nicolau, one of the finest pupils of the painter Gheorghe Tattarescu; they were subsequently restored. The old iconostasis, dating from 1813, is carved in cherrywood. The complex also includes a second church, dedicated to the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God, built in 1911, as well as cells and ancillary buildings notable for their vernacular architecture in stone and wood. Over the centuries, the monastery has distinguished itself through an active monastic life in which prayer is intertwined with the craft of carpet weaving, as well as through extensive philanthropic activity — particularly after the First World War, when the nuns raised and educated many orphaned children. Set in a remarkable natural landscape surrounded by fir and beech forests, Suzana Monastery is part of the chain of monasteries along the Valea Teleajenului, together with Cheia, Crasna and Zamfira, and is today home to approximately 50 nuns.