The Golia Monastery is a Romanian Orthodox

Romanian Orthodox Church

The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...

 monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 located in Iaşi

Iasi

Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. The monastery is listed in the National Register of Historic Monuments.

History

Located in the middle of the old Moldavian

Moldavia

Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...

 capital and raised on the foundation of the church eracted, in the 16th century, by the boyar Ioan Golia, the monastery was rebuilt on a greater scale by Prince Vasile Lupu

Vasile Lupu

Vasile Lupu was a Moldavian Voivode between 1634 and 1653. Vasile Coci surnamed "the wolf" who ruled as Prince of Moldavia had secured the Moldavian throne in 1634 after a series of complicated intrigues and managed to hold it for twenty years. Vasile was of Albanian origin and Greek education...

, between 1650 and 1653, and completed by his son Ştefăniţă

Stefanita Lupu

Ştefăniţă Lupu, nicknamed Papură-Vodă , son of Vasile Lupu, was Voivode of Moldavia between 1659 and 1661, and again in 1661.-Life:...

.

The monastery is surrounded by tall walls, with corner turrets and a 30 m (98.43 ft) height tower with 120 steps, one of city’s symbols, and houses the Ion Creangă

Ion Creanga

Ion Creangă was a Moldavian-born Romanian writer, raconteur and schoolteacher. A main figure in 19th century Romanian literature, he is best known for his Childhood Memories volume, his novellas and short stories, and his many anecdotes...

 Museum (the writer was curate of the church) and Doxologia Cultural Missionary Centre of the Metropolis of Moldavia and Bukovina

Metropolis of Moldavia and Bukovina

The Metropolis of Moldavia and Bukovina, in Iaşi, Romania, is one of the main bishoprics of the Romanian Orthodox Church.-History:Recognised, in 1401, by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Metropolis of Moldavia united, in 1872, with the Metropolis of Ungro-Wallachia to form the...

.

External links

• Churches and monasteries in Iaşi at Iaşi City Hall website