Cozia Monastery: the walled church of Mircea the Elder
Cozia Monastery (Mănăstirea Cozia) stands on the right bank of the Olt near Călimănești in Vâlcea County, Romania. Founded by voivode Mircea the Elder in the late 14th century, it is one of the great medieval monastic complexes of the country, still home to monks and still the resting place of its founder.
Cozia was built to pray in and to defend a mountain passage, and it was fortified like a castle. Its first name was simply Nucetul, “the walnut grove”.
The history of Cozia Monastery
Cozia stands on the right bank of the Olt, on a spot first called Nucetul, the walnut grove. Voivode Mircea the Elder, who ruled Wallachia from 1386 to 1418, had the Church of the Holy Trinity raised between 1387 and 1391. It was consecrated in 1388 and painted in 1390–1391. Legend says it was built close to an older monastery of Negru Vodă. The site, beside the river and the way through the Carpathians, was chosen for defence as much as for prayer, so thick walls were built around it, like those of a castle.
The church is a triconch, with three apses, built in alternating courses of stone and brick. Its façades, with stone rosettes and tall vertical frames, were new in Wallachian architecture and belong to the Serbian Morava school; the strong likeness to the Lazarica church in Serbia suggests that Mircea brought Serbian craftsmen. He also endowed the monastery with villages and with the right to take salt from Ocnele Mari. Royal charters show that a monastery school was already working in 1415, and Filos, a scribe at Mircea’s court, is considered the first Romanian poet.
Later rulers kept adding to the complex. Under Neagoe Basarab the paintings were renewed between 1512 and 1521. In 1543 Radu Paisie raised the small infirmary church, the bolniță of the Holy Apostles, whose frescoes by the painters David and Raduslav include a votive portrait of Mircea and his sons. In 1706–1707 Constantin Brâncoveanu gave the main church its open porch in the Brâncovenesc style, together with a fountain, a chapel and a watchtower. During the Austrian occupation of Oltenia, the monastery served as a formidable stronghold.
The 19th and early 20th centuries were harder. From 1879 to 1893 the authorities turned Cozia into a prison, which provoked a furious article by Mihai Eminescu in 1882; it later became a hospital, and in the First World War its church was used to stable horses. On 15 May 1938 the remains of Mircea the Elder were solemnly reburied here, in the presence of Crown Prince Michael and the historian Nicolae Iorga. A state restoration began in 1958. Today Cozia is a protected monument and, above all, a working monastery.
Curiosities about Cozia Monastery
- The name Cozia comes from the nearby Cozia Mountain and is of Cuman origin, from the Turkic word koz, “walnut”. It echoes the monastery’s first name, Nucetul, “the walnut grove”.
- The stone dedication slab gives the year 6809, which would be 1301, but historians agree this is an error: the painted inscription inside gives the correct year, 6894, or 1386.
- The 17th-century traveller Paul of Aleppo recorded that the name Cozia meant a “fortress of earth” because of the mountains around it.
- In January 1999, during the miners’ unrest known as the Mineriad, Prime Minister Radu Vasile agreed a deal with Miron Cozma at Cozia, which became known as the “Peace of Cozia”.
- Poets including Dimitrie Bolintineanu, Ion Pillat and Grigore Alexandrescu wrote verses about Cozia, and the monastery appeared on a Romanian postage stamp in 1968.
- The portrait of Stroe, the administrator of Cozia, in the bolniță church is regarded as one of the first realistic portraits in Romanian art.
Tours near Cozia Monastery
Experiences in the area that you can book online with Viator:
Visiting Cozia Monastery: what to see
- The Church of the Holy Trinity is the heart of the visit: look at the stone rosettes and the bands of brick and stone on the façades, and at the open porch added in 1707.
- The small bolniță church of the Holy Apostles, outside the main courtyard, keeps well-preserved 16th-century frescoes, including the votive portrait of Mircea the Elder and his sons.
- Two domed chapels are built into the eastern wall facing the Olt, and their domes are reflected in the water.
- A small museum shows icons from the 14th to 19th centuries, church textiles and old manuscripts and printed books.
- Cozia is an active monastic community, so visit quietly, and check the current opening hours before you go.
Opening hours, access and conditions can change. Check before you go.
Map: where Cozia Monastery is
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors
Photos of Cozia Monastery
Questions
Where is Cozia Monastery?
It stands on the right bank of the Olt near the town of Călimănești in Vâlcea County, beside the DN7 road, in the historic region of Wallachia.
Who founded Cozia Monastery?
Voivode Mircea the Elder of Wallachia founded it. The Church of the Holy Trinity was built between 1387 and 1391 and consecrated in 1388.
Is Mircea the Elder buried at Cozia?
Yes, the monastery holds his tomb, and his remains were solemnly reburied there on 15 May 1938.
What is special about the architecture of Cozia Monastery?
The church façades, with stone rosettes and alternating stone and brick, follow the Serbian Morava school, which was new in Wallachia. Later rulers added a Brâncovenesc porch and a smaller frescoed church.
Is Cozia Monastery still in use?
Yes, it remains an active monastic community and a pilgrimage site, as well as a museum of religious art.
What can you see near Cozia Monastery?
Horezu Monastery and Poenari Castle are each about 27 km away, and Curtea de Argeș Monastery is about 31 km away.
Also nearby
Poenari Castle
Argeș · clifftop ruin linked to Vlad the Impaler
27 km away
Horezu Monastery
Vâlcea · UNESCO monastery in the Brâncoveanu style
27 km away
Curtea de Argeș Monastery
Argeș · Neagoe Basarab’s church and royal necropolis
31 km away
Sâmbăta de Sus Monastery
Brașov County · Orthodox monastery, destroyed in 1785 and rebuilt
60 km away