Putna Monastery celebrates 560 years since the foundation stone was laid by Saint Stephen the Greattranslated

On Friday, the Putna Monastery celebrates 560 years since the foundation stone was laid by Saint Voivode Stephen the Great.

Considered the most important foundation of the ruler of Moldova and one of the most important centers of Romanian Orthodox spirituality, the monastery has crossed over five centuries of history, becoming a symbol of faith, culture and national identity.

The foundation stone was laid on July 10, 1466, and the church was completed in just three years. The consecration service took place on September 3, 1469, after the victory achieved by Saint Stephen against the Tatars in Lipnic (today in the Republic of Moldova) in the same year.

The beginnings of monastic life at Putna The first inhabitants of the monastery came from the Neamț Monastery, led by Archimandrite Ioasaf, who became the first abbot of the Putna Monastery.

The first royal tombs were also placed here. The second wife of Saint Stephen, Maria Asanina Paleologhina, Metropolitan Teoctist, spiritual father of the ruler, two of the voivode's sons, Bogdan and Petru, as well as the first abbots of the settlement were buried in the church.

During the Stefanian period, the Monastery...