Painted monasteries on the UNESCO World Heritage list, a salt mine worked for more than two centuries, black pottery, fortresses and limestone mountains — all of them around the village of Vama, in Suceava county.
Vama, in Suceava county, southern Bucovina, northern Romania, sits halfway between the painted monasteries of northern Bucovina and the Rarău–Giumalău mountains, in the valley of the river Moldova, on the DN17 (E58) road, between Gura Humorului and Câmpulung Moldovenesc. Do not confuse the village with Vama Buzăului, in Brașov county.
The painted monasteries are 15th- and 16th-century Orthodox churches whose outer walls are covered, from the plinth to the eaves, with frescoes — whole biblical cycles painted on the outside of the building so that villagers who could not read could follow them. They survived five hundred Bucovina winters in the open air, which is why UNESCO inscribed eight of them on the World Heritage list, as the “Churches of Moldavia”, for the outstanding quality and the exceptional preservation of that exterior painting.
What that means in practice: almost everything worth seeing in Bucovina can be done in a day, there and back, by car, without moving your luggage. Five of the eight churches in the UNESCO “Churches of Moldavia” site are in this one county.
Below is each attraction, with what it is, why it is worth the drive, and real driving distances from Domeniul Lidana.
Each attraction in two or three sentences: what it is, what there is to see, driving distance from Lidana, and whether it belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage site.
The church of St George at Voroneț, built by Stephen the Great in 1488, is the best known of the painted churches of Moldavia. Its west wall carries a complete Last Judgement, painted against the intense blue that entered the scholarly literature as “Voroneț blue”. It is part of the UNESCO “Churches of Moldavia” World Heritage site.
A monastery founded in 1530, its exterior frescoes painted in 1535 and dominated by red. The Akathist Hymn to the Virgin and the Siege of Constantinople on the south front stand out, as does the watchtower in the precinct, which you can climb. It is part of the UNESCO “Churches of Moldavia” World Heritage site.
Founded by Prince Petru Rareș in 1532, with exterior frescoes painted in 1537 and exceptionally well preserved on the south front. The Siege of Constantinople and the Tree of Jesse are the most photographed scenes here. It is the closest of the UNESCO monasteries to Vama, on the road up to the Obcina Mare ridge.
The most heavily fortified of the Bucovina monasteries, with thick walls and corner towers, built at the end of the 16th century by the Movilă family. Its north wall carries the Ladder of Virtue, one of the largest medieval frescoes in Europe. It was added to the UNESCO “Churches of Moldavia” site in 2010.
The church of the Beheading of St John the Baptist, built in 1503 by the commander Luca Arbore, with neither tower nor porch — an unusual form for Moldavian architecture. The frescoes of 1541 are dominated by green, and their range of pigments has been the subject of study in its own right. It is part of the UNESCO “Churches of Moldavia” World Heritage site.
The first foundation of Stephen the Great, built between 1466 and 1469, and his burial place — the prince’s tomb is inside the church. The monastery museum holds embroideries, manuscripts and liturgical objects of the 15th century, among the most valuable in the country. Note: Putna is not part of the UNESCO “Churches of Moldavia” site, because no medieval exterior frescoes survive on it.
The church of St George at the monastery of Saint John the New, in the city of Suceava, built between 1514 and 1522 and painted on the outside in the decades that followed. It holds the relics of Saint John the New of Suceava, the patron saint of Bucovina. It is the only church in the UNESCO “Churches of Moldavia” site that stands in a large town.
A salt mine worked since the end of the 18th century, in the village of Cacica, Suceava county. You go down a wooden staircase to the old galleries, where there is a Roman Catholic chapel cut into the salt, a ballroom and an underground lake. The salt air is also used therapeutically, and the temperature stays the same all year — take a coat.
Spectacular limestone outcrops at over 1,600 m in the Rarău massif, reached on a waymarked trail, with a panorama across the Obcinele Bucovinei ridges and the Bistrița mountains. A scenic road (Transrarău) runs almost to the summit and there is a mountain lodge, so it can be done without a whole day on foot.
A spa town at the confluence of the Dorna and the Bistrița, with carbonated mineral springs, a spa park, a historic casino and a ski slope with a chairlift in the town itself. It is the nearest organised skiing to Vama.
A town in the Moldova valley at the foot of the Rarău, with the Museum of Wood Art and the celebrated collection of wooden spoons assembled by Ioan Țugui — thousands of pieces from all over the world. It is also the classic starting point for the Rarău massif.
A town in the Moldova valley, with the Museum of Bucovina Folk Customs housed in a historic building, and a ski slope and chairlift on Dealul Ariniș. The roads to Voroneț and to Humor both start from Gura Humorului.
A village known for its burnished black pottery, produced by reduction firing — it is the smoke, not a glaze, that gives the colour and the sheen. It is one of the last places in Europe where the technique has been practised without a break; at the workshop you can watch the potter at the wheel.
The second largest town in Suceava county, with the church of St Nicholas at Bogdana Monastery — the oldest surviving stone church in Moldavia, built in the 14th century by Bogdan I and the burial place of the first Moldavian princes. The town also has a traditional market and a centre of red pottery.
A fortress built at the end of the 14th century by Petru I Mușat and strengthened by Stephen the Great, which held out against the siege of Sultan Mehmed II in 1476. It has been extensively restored and now has exhibitions and reconstructed scenes inside — it is the attraction in Suceava that works best with children.
An open-air museum at the foot of the fortress, with farmsteads, workshops, a wooden church and an inn, moved from villages across Bucovina and rebuilt on the site. It goes well with the fortress, in the same half day.
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The nearest are Moldovița (14 km), Voroneț (19 km) and Humor (23 km), all three in the UNESCO “Churches of Moldavia” World Heritage site. A day easily takes in a circuit of two or three monasteries, with paved and convenient roads connecting directly from the DN17.
The UNESCO “Churches of Moldavia” site takes in eight churches: Arbore, Humor, Moldovița, Pătrăuți, Probota, Sucevița, Voroneț and the church of St George at the monastery of Saint John the New in Suceava. Putna Monastery, although one of the most important in the country historically, is not part of this site.
From Domeniul Lidana to Voroneț Monastery is approximately 19 km along the DN17 (via Gura Humorului), about a 20-minute drive.
Suceava Fortress, restored and with reconstructed scenes inside, the Bucovina Village Museum next door, the Cacica salt mine with its galleries and underground lake, the black pottery workshops at Marginea and the collection of wooden spoons at Câmpulung Moldovenesc. For rainy days, the leisure centre at Lidana has bowling, a games room and an indoor pool.
Vama is a village in Suceava county, in southern Bucovina, in the valley of the river Moldova, on the DN17 (E58), between Gura Humorului and Câmpulung Moldovenesc. It is not Vama Buzăului, in Brașov county. The roads to the monasteries, to the Rarău and to Suceava all lead off the DN17, so you can easily travel by car.
The nearest ski slopes are at Vatra Dornei and Gura Humorului, both with a chairlift. The monasteries are open in winter too, and the road up to the Rarău depends on the state of the surface. At Lidana, winter means the indoor pool, the saunas, the salt room, the bowling and the Christmas and New Year packages, with carol singers and festive dinners.
Cacica is not a modern, purpose-built tourist mine but an old one, worked since the end of the 18th century, which you go down into on wooden stairs. It has a Roman Catholic chapel cut into the salt, a ballroom and an underground lake. The temperature is constant and low all year, so take a coat even in summer.
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