Moldavia is the historic province situated in the east of Romania. In its west, all from north to south, it is flanked by the mountains Meridionali, while in the east the river Prut separates it from the present Moldavian Republic.

The oldest and most impressive buildings of this region are the churches, many of them real architectural jewels, which can be seen both in towns and in isolated villages, some of them even on the top of the mountains. Founding these religious establishments was a sacred duty for all the rulers who ascended Moldavia's throne.

The most important church founder all over this region was the ruler Stefan cel Mare, who has reigned for 47 years, since 1457 to 1504. The day of his death, 2nd of July 1504, was introduced into the orthodox calendar of 1992, when the ruler was canonised.
Stefan cel Mare, Moldavia's Father, was contemporary with Christopher Columbus, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Matias Corvinul, the king of Hungary, and Henry the VIIth of England. He is buried inside the church of the monastery of Putna.
The monastery Putna, which he built especially to be his resting place, was finished in 1469 and represents up to today a sort of Romanian St Denis. There is here one of the vastest monastic museums, with a collection including the sacred picture that Stefan used to wear during his famous fights. Putna is situated in north Moldavia, in the region called Bucovina.

Iasi has been for several centuries the capital of Moldavia. Known as the city situated on the 7 hills, it is still a citadel of the Romanian spirituality and culture. The numerous churches has always impressed the traveller.
Stefan cel Mare built in 1492, near the Court, the royal church Sf. Nicolae. Right in the neighbourhood, there is a masterpiece of the Romanian Orthodox architecture: Biserica Trei Ierarhi (The Church Three Hierarchs), built in 1635. Its walls, a real stone embroidery, used to be covered with a thin golden leaf. The museum of the church hosts a very well preserved printing press stone since 1640.
The interior preserves the graves of its founder, the ruler Vasile Lupu (1634 - 1653), and also those of the scholar-ruler Dimitrie Cantemir (1673 - 1723) and of the first ruler of the United Principalities, Al. I. Cuza (1820 - 1873).
Built in 1887, several feet away from the church Trei Ierarhi, we find Catedrala Mitropoliei (The Metropolitan Cathedral), also named "mother of all the moldavian churches". Other remarkable religious monuments in Iasi are the monasteries Golia, Cetatuia, Galata, Frumoasa, the churches Sf. Gheorghe - the old Metropolitan church - Sf. Sava, Sf. Teodora.

One of the most beautiful Moldavian regions is the district Neamt, where wonderful landscapes of mountain and hill are prevailing. This region impresses with a chain of churches hard to forget. So is the monastery Neamt, considered by the specialists to be a gorgeous synthesis of the religious architecture in Moldavia. It was built by the same Stefan cel Mare in 1497, maybe to the memory of the citadel Neamt, in the neighbourhood, where he found shelter and support during hard times. The marvellous monastery, as well as other edifices, used to be a cultural centre, where monks have created calligraphic works and exceptional printings.
A religious itinerary through this district includes the monasteries Sihastria, Secu, Agapia, Varatec, Horaita, Bistrita, Bisericani, Pângarati, Durau.
At Agapia - one of the largest nun monasteries in the Orthodox world - one can admire the first paintings of the classical painter Grigore Alexandrescu.
In 1889, at Varatec, the poetess Veronica Micle committed suicide only 2 months after the death of her lover, the national poet Mihai Eminescu.

Here the tourist can admire the carpet and vestment weaving workshops, but also a vast religious museum.
In 1407, one of the most important rulers of Moldavia, Alexandru cel Bun (1400 - 1432) built the church of the monastery Bistrita, which was also a cultural centre. This is the place where the founder and his wife Ana were buried, and also other members of the royal family. Not far away from these monasteries there is the mountain Ceahlau - a symbol of Moldavia. The legend tells that this is where the mysterious Kogaionon used to be, the sacred mountain of the Dacians, the forefathers of the Romanian people, where Zamolxes, their supreme God had his temple.
At the foot of Ceahlau, the present church of the monasteru Durau was built in 1853. It was waxed more than a century ago by Nicolae Tonitza and his followers, among who Corneliu Baba, a famous name of the Romanian plastic art. In 1993 right on the mountain Ceahlau, the monastery bearing his name was sanctified.