Govora
Home > Places > Monasteries in Wallachia and Southern Bukovina > Monasteries of Wallachia > Govora
Govora
GOVORA MONASTERY
Govora Monastery lies 17 km west of Râmnicu Vâlcea in the vicinity of the beautiful Govora resort. It is a nunnery consecrated to the Assumption.
The church was built in the first half of the 15th century by prince Vlad Dracul (Vlad the Impaler's father), and was restored by the end of the century by princes Vlad the Monk and Radu the Great (descendant of Basarab I - founder of Wallachia -, and follower of Dracula).
Outwards, the church is decorated with a median painted stone belt and stone carvings at the windows. The iconostasis, made in carved furnished wood, has a great artistic value.
The monastery underwent complete restoration during prince Matei Basarab's rule, between 1640-1645; it is in his time that the monastery was provided with a printing press offered as a gift by Bishop Petru Movila from Kiev. At Govora Monastery were printed important books like 'The Govora Code of Laws' (the oldest code of laws in Wallachia - in 1640) or 'The Psalm Book' in the Slavonic language (1637). The old printing house can still be seen today.
In 1710-1711, ruling prince Constantin Brâncoveanu (1688-1714), who was the most outstanding promoter of art and culture in Wallachia by the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th centuries, expanded the monastery, and rebuilt the church. He added interior mural paintings in the distinctive art style that bears his name.
The monastic complex was restored between 1957 and 1969.