Sinaia is a city in Prahova County and has 10.410 inhabitants.

Sinaia

Sinaia monastery

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GPS Coordinates:
45.35542 N, 25.54922 E

Mihail Cantacuzino (1650-1716) second in command of Walachian troops,went on a pilgramage with his family and reached mount Sinai, where he visited an old IVth century Orthodox monastery Sf. Ecaterina. The impact was so stong that once home he commenced the building of the monastery, and named it after the mount. The town which came into being was also named Sinaia. The monastery built in between 1690-1695 had a double function: first of defence and surveillance, of the Prahova valley commercial route, and of cherity: providing shelter for the needy. Here one can find the Old Church, the Great Church, a museum and Tache Ionescu's (prime minister during WWI) grave.

The Great Church was built in between 1842-1846. In 1892 the Bell Tower was added, with its 1700 kg weighing bell. Tkanks to Carol I this was the first church lit by electic power. The paintings of the church were made by a Danish painter Aage Exner. They show Queen Elisabeth and her daughter Mary who died at a young age, and Mihai Cantacuzino, the founder of the church. The furniture is carved wood, the altar screen, the furniture of the nave and the two thrones are gold plated.

The King's chair bears the royal emblem and the 'Nihil sine Deo' (Nothing without God) inscription. Elisabeth's chair bears the monogram E.D. One of the remarkable pieces in the museum is Ana Roth's epitaf emroidered with silk and gold thread, made in between 1897-1900. There are two Russion icons representing Saint Serghei and Saint Nicholas, which were a gift from the Russian czar Nikolai II, to Nifon Arhimandritul, the leader of the monastery at that time, on baptising Nicolae, King Ferdinad's son.

In 1895 200 years after the Old Church was built the country's first exhibition of religious objects was opened. In between 1897-1903 Eforia which manages the wealth of the monastery renovated the building. It was then that the church gained its today look.

The restoration of the Old Church was completed in 2006. The painting on the porch and the open hallway are original, made by Pârvu Mutu, the favourite painter of the Cantacuzinos. The chapel was built in 1695. Its size and more than 300 years old, blackened paintings evoke the religious creeps of the catacombs in the early years of Christianity.

Great Church, Photo: Goargiana Corovița The Great Curch tower, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy
Entrence of the Great Church, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Inside of the Great Church, the chandeliers were made in Wien at the end of the XIXc., Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Great Church, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Great Church, The painting above the altar, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Great Church, Iosif Gheorghian archbishop and king Carol I, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Great Church, Queen Elisabeth, Princess Mary and commander Mihail Cantacuzino, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Great Church, Queen Elisabeth, Princess Mary and commander Mihail Cantacuzino, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Great Church, Emblem on the king's chair, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Great Church, The queen's chair, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy
Great Church, The gilded pulpit, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Great Church, Queen Elisabeth and Princess Mary, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Great Church, The king's chair, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Great Church, Ana Roth's epitaf, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Take Ionescu's grave, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy The monastery, Photo: Răzvan Sabău Great Church, The chalice veil,  XIXc. Ana Roth's embroidery with gold and silver thread, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Great Church, The altar screen, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Great Church, Russian icon Saint Serghei, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy
Great Church, Russian icon Saint Nikolai, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Great Church, Pontificial chair, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy The museum, Mitre, XIXc. Ana Roth's embroidery with gems, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy The museum, Carol I's chalice, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy The museum, Eucharist, gilded silver, copy of Curtea de Arges monastery, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy The museum, Petite cross, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy The museum, Pârvu Mutu's painting, Holy Trinity, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy The museum, Bojar's buckle, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Old Church, Frescos, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy
Old Church, Frescos, 1695, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Old Church, Hallway, The Holy Virgin with wings, unusual representation, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Old Church, The entrance, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Old Church, Frescos in the churchnave, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Old Church, Frescos above the entrance, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Old Church, Frescos and silver icons, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy Old Church, Lead bottle and saints, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy The monastery, Photo: Răzvan Sabău Jesus, Photo: pr. Mihail Nagy

Open hours:

10:30 - 16:30.

Between 16 September and 31 May the museum opens only with advance booking for groups larger than 20 persons

Contact

Tel : 0040-244-314-917

The quid's phone number:

0040-722-834-603

You can speak with us in: Romanian, English, French, Italian

Old Church, Photo: Nagy Adél Old Church, Photo: Nagy Adél Old Church, Photo: Nagy Adél Old Church, Photo: Nagy Adél

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