he
monastery of Pissiota, located in Poienarii Burchi, was built between 1928
and 1929 by Nicolae Pissiota (1860-1940), a great man of culture, and his
wife, Zoe Pissiota (1868-1940), on the estate bought from the family of
General Gheorghe Angelescu (1850-1923), an important name in the 1877 war.
he
first record of the village of Poienarii Burchi dates back to 21st
September 1594, on the former „Poeana” estate of Lady Stanca, the wife of
Michael the Brave. The village was dedicated by Lady Stanca to the
Simonopetra monastery of Mount Athos, in 1594. The original document is
kept at the Archives of the State in Bucharest.
he
engineer Nicolae Pissiota, of Macedonian origin, born in Greece and
settled in Walachia, had a huge fortune that allowed him to build this
place of worship. The church
was designed by the architect Ioan Giurgea - a harmonious combination
between Italian Renaissance style and the Byzantine elements that are
specific to Romanian churches.
amous
names were called to decorate the church: Costin Petrescu (1877-1954), the
one that painted the interior frescoes of the Romanian Athenaeum, or the
Cathedral of Alba Iulia, and his apprentice, Gheorghe Eftimiu.
he
portraits of the patrons and of the Patriarchs Miron Cristea and Justinian
Marina were done by the painter Vasile Rudeanu (in 1956). The
iconostasis is carved in rosewood and cherry wood, brought from Greece,
creating a balance between sensitivity and detail, influenced by Italian
art.
he
furniture was carved of oak wood, with ethnic motifs, by the sculptor
Anghel Dima, in 1928, the author of Mihai Eminescu’s sculpture in front of
the Romanian Athenaeum. The floor is made of red Carrara marble;
underneath the church lie the marble crypts where the patrons and their
families are buried. Inside the church there are icons and silver icon
lights, in Brancoveanu style, as well as triodyons, Pentecostarians and
hymn books.
he
defining religious element in the Holy Monastery of Pissiota is the Icon
of the Holy Virgin with the Child - miracle-working icon. The icon is
painted on oak wood, against a background of Byzantine brocade, signed by
the famous painter Gheorghe Eftimiu, the apprentice of the great Costin
Petrescu.
or
two decades after the opening, between 1928 and 1948, the monastery was a
monk monastery. In 1948, the Patriarch Justinian Marina transformed it
into a monastery of nuns, and this is how it remained until 1962, when it
was discontinued. In 1993,
after 31 years in ruin, the monastery resumed its community life.
urrently,
the monastery is inhabited by 23 nuns and a priest; prayer is in harmony
with work, as there are tailoring workshops where priestly vestments and
clothes are made, allowing people to add the little money they have for
the restoration of the monastery.
he
monastery of Pissiota, located in Poienarii Burchi, was built between 1928
and 1929 by Nicolae Pissiota (1860-1940), a great man of culture, and his
wife, Zoe Pissiota (1868-1940), on the estate bought from the family of
General Gheorghe Angelescu (1850-1923), an important name in the 1877 war.
amous
names were called to decorate the church: Costin Petrescu (1877-1954), the
one that painted the interior frescoes of the Romanian Athenaeum, or the
Cathedral of Alba Iulia, and his apprentice, Gheorghe Eftimiu.
