Where is Moldavia?
Get off the beaten path to explore little-known delights.
Published in "Emerging Romania 2003", Oxford Business Group
In the mid 1980s, the American soap opera "Dynasty" featured a character who, we were asked to believe, was the disenfranchised Prince of Moldavia – leading many television fans in the West to idly wonder where, exactly, Moldavia was.
In fact, it’s rather a good question – further complicated by the issue of whether or not Moldavia is the same place as Moldova.
Mind your language
Historically, both names (one Latin, the other Romanian and Russian) referred to the medieval principality which, in due course, formed a major part of the unified Romanian state that emerged in the late 19th century.
The area was, from the start, ethnically mixed, with Romanians rubbing shoulders with Slavs spilling over from the east and various Hungarian tribes isolated from most of their kin. Its name descends from the old German "Molde," meaning "open-pit mine," reflecting a strong early presence of imported German miners.
A look at three major writers from the region will illustrate the ethnic complexity of the area. Dimitrie Cantemir was an 18th-century historian whom both the Romanians and the Russians claim as one of their own. There was the 19th-century Mihai Eminescu, considered Romania’s national poet, changed his name from the Slavonic-sounding Eminovich. In the 20th century there was Paul Celan, a multilingual Jew who fled to Paris and is now regarded as one of the greatest German poets.
To make matters more confusing, border-shifting during the Soviet years left only the western part of Moldavia in modern-day Romania. The rest was seized by Moscow and artificially joined with a slice of Slav territory, producing the republic of Moldova.
So, where is Moldavia? In English, generally, the separate republic is called "Moldova," while "Moldavia" is the name used for the bit that is still in Romania, forming that country’s northeastern slab. The latter area is the subject of this article.
Nevertheless, Romanians make little distinction in their own language between the two, brought up as they are to resent the Soviet annexation that divided them.
Picture perfect
Much neglected by tourists, the region of Moldavia boasts some little-known delights. And few things are more delightful than the painted monasteries in Bucovina – the northern area of Moldavia.
Created between 1522 and 1547 when Moldavian Prince Ştefan cel Mare (Stephen the Great) was striving to defend his principality against the Turks, these walled monasteries have magnificently decorated churches.
The lifelike murals date from the 16th century and were intended to educate illiterate locals. The churches’ outer walls are jam-packed with comic-strip hagiographies, annunciations, Trees of Jesse and Sieges of Constantinople, while inside, countless saints are put to death in various ways, haloes clinging to their heads through thick and thin.
It is an ancient custom in the Orthodox Church for religious murals to be painted on church walls as a means of education; these specimens are particularly fine.
Their frescoes are unusual for being not only on the inside walls, but all over the outside as well. Moreover, they are extremely highly accomplished works of art.
Perhaps most amazingly of all, their rich colours are incredibly well preserved. They are derived from minerals which the industrious monks mostly obtained from the soil: iron oxide, lead oxide and copper carbonate.
The largest and finest painted monastery is Suceviţa. Moldoviţa, perched on a hillock in the middle of a village, is the liveliest and boasts a gift shop. Other painted churches are at Humor, Voroneţ and Arbore. Putna contains Ştefan’s tomb and a good museum of medieval manuscripts and textiles.
The best single painting is the Last Judgment that covers one end wall of the Voroneţ church. An imposing Jesus sits above a crevasse that winds its way down the centre, allowing a terrifying peek at the hellfires below. The sinners (including Jews and Muslims) are led toward this crevasse while on the other side the pious await assumption into heaven. Wild animals bring back chunks of people they have killed in the past, a vivid illustration of the doctrine of bodily resurrection. The monasteries are UNESCO world heritage sites.
Practicalities
A trip to these magnificent attractions is well worth any amount of hassle, though this is almost certainly what you will get, as this poor region suffers particularly from the big problem afflicting Romania’s entire tourist industry: bad infrastructure. Trains and buses linking the monasteries and the nearby towns and villages are sporadic.
Nevertheless, the sites are close enough together not to pose too much of a problem for an adventurous traveller who is fond of walking, cycling or hitching rides with local motorists and farmers with horse-carts.
This is well worth doing, as the beauty of the region does not begin and end with the churches. Bucovina is a magnificent area to walk in, enjoying the clear air and the serene, gentle hills, and watching the locals tilling their soil with hand tools and beasts of burden.
If you decide it is worth splashing out on an organised tour from a travel agency, rather than going to the region and then trying to sort it out, this is easier to arrange with an agency based in Bucharest.
Supposing you choose the independent option, the place to start is Suceava, a city seven hours by train from Bucharest. While here, it’s worth seeing the 15th-century hilltop fortress presided over by a modern statue of Stephen the Great.
From Suceava you can take a bus to Gura Humorului, a town that has a tolerable hotel called the Carpaţi and is a good base for a tour of the monasteries. The monastery of Humor is an easy ten-minute walk up the road from the town. Other than that, scan the bus and train timetables, ask around and flag down lots of horse-carts.
Meet the locals
Foreigners stick out like a sore thumb in Moldavia, which is not necessarily a bad thing, as most local people are friendly and curious. I was once followed for several kilometres by a talkative boy aged about 12 who was excellent company – apart from his constant requests that I should buy him cigarettes.
Another surreal experience was when policemen in Gura Humorului accosted me on the grounds that I had damaged some flowers by stepping on the central reservation as I crossed the road. They improvised a fine which, to them, was probably a pretty good day’s killing.
Small-time corrupt cops aside, some of the most interesting people you will encounter as you tour the monasteries are the monks and nuns who still live there, one of the reasons why the sites are so well kept-up.
It is fascinating to watch these devotees going about their daily duties. You may see them beating a long metal beam with a mallet, tapping out a call to prayer. This became a custom during the Turks’ domination over Moldavia, when the ringing of bells was forbidden. You can take photos at the monasteries, though sometimes there is a small fee.
Lost city
Among the other things worth doing in Moldavia, a trip to Iaşi is high on the list.
Iaşi is one of the world’s great forgotten cities. Though it was once the capital of the principality of Moldavia and even, for three years, of the unified Romania, it has long since lost any international standing. Yet Romania’s second biggest city, with 320,000 inhabitants, retains plenty of attractions, including a fair selection of places to eat and hang out. The dearth of tourists who visit merely adds to the city’s appeal.
Relaxed and spacious, Iaşi has a long tradition as a cultural centre, with Romania’s first university being established here in 1860.
Its broad, tree-lined main avenue, Bulevardul Ştefan Cel Mare, leads up to the large, imposing, neo-classical Palace of Culture. This was the residence of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the architect and first leader of the unified Romanian state that was established (without Transylvania) in 1859. It now houses museums of history, art, technology and ethnography.
Walking up the avenue towards this building, you will pass two churches on your right. The huge, 19th century Metropolitan Cathedral is entered by ascending a broad staircase that takes you up underneath a magnificently painted alcove. The decoration on the 17th century Church of the Three Hierarchs is of a different kind, with its white stone walls completely covered with intricate carvings.
Close to the Palace of Culture is an old stone building called Dosoftei House, in which the eponymous priest published the first-ever printed work of literature in Romanian. It contains a small museum.
Iaşi also features Romania’s largest botanical garden, measuring 80 hectares.
