Neamț MonasteryMănăstirea Neamț
Part of Moldavia
A 15th-century monastery that became medieval Moldavia's center of manuscript learning.
History
Stephen the Great rebuilt and enlarged this monastery in stone, finishing construction in 1497, the same year he defeated a Polish invasion at the nearby Battle of the Cosmin Forest. Its Gothic-influenced church, with pointed windows and glazed enamel discs set into the frieze, became one of medieval Moldavia's great centers of learning: monks Gavril Uric, Macarie, and Eftimie worked here as illuminators and chroniclers, copying and decorating manuscripts and recording the reigns of Moldavia's princes. That scholarly tradition resurfaced in 1807, when Metropolitan Veniamin Costachi installed a printing press, producing some of the first books printed in the region. The monastery's library today holds more than 11,000 volumes spanning over 600 years, and among its treasures is a Nicolae Grigorescu icon and the carved altar screen rescued from nearby Neamț Fortress.
