Neamts Monastery

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The Neamts Monastery (Template:Lang-ro), situated 12 miles northwest of the historic Neamts Citadel, is known as the 'Romanian Orthodox Jerusalem' and is one of the most important monastic communities of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Moldavia.

History

The Neamts Monastery was founded at the end of the 14th century as the Monastery of the Ascension of Christ. The first written record of the Monastery dates to 1407. During the reign of St. Stephen the Great of Moldavia the Monastery's Church of the Ascension, a jewel of Moldavian architecture, was built following the destruction of the old church in the 1471 earthquake. Most of Moldavia's rulers patronized the Neamts Monastery, endowing it with villages and and estates, funding the repair and expansion of the Monastery complex, and granting the Monastery special privileges in their domains.

The eventual decline of the spiritual life of the Monastery was arrested and undone by St. Paisius Velichkovsky, who settled at Neamts with his disciples in 1779. As a result of St. Paisius' arrival Neamts became a center of monastic life and hesychasm not only for Moldavia, but also for the rest of the Romanian-speaking territories as well as the Russian Empire.

Today the Neamts Monastery consists of the central monastery itself and seven sketes scattered in the countryside around it.

External Links

Neamţ Monastery (Romanian Monasteries Website) Neamţ Monastery (Orthodox Photos Website)