The painted monasteries of Bukovina are among the most extraordinary buildings in Europe, and the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin at Humor, just outside Gura Humorului in north-eastern Romania, is one of the finest. Built in 1530 and painted inside and out a few years later, it belongs to the group of churches that were inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1993. The outer walls are covered with frescoes in rich shades of red and brown, telling biblical stories and lives of saints to people who could not read.
The most famous scene at Humor is the Siege of Constantinople, painted on the south wall, which mixes the Persian siege of the seventh century with the more recent Ottoman threat. It was a political message: the Moldavian princes who founded these monasteries saw themselves as defenders of Christianity against the Ottomans. The church was founded by a Moldavian nobleman, and the monastery buildings around it, with a defensive tower and walls, show how monasteries also served as refuges in times of war.
Bukovina is a land of rolling hills, beech and spruce forests, wooden farmhouses with carved gates and neat haystacks in the fields. Voroneţ, with its famous blue frescoes, is a few kilometres away, and Suceviţa and Moldoviţa are within easy reach. The Slătioara old-growth forest, one of the last virgin forests in Romania, lies to the west.
On two wheels Bukovina is hard to beat. DN17 runs from Suceava through Gura Humorului towards Câmpulung Moldovenesc and Vatra Dornei, with curves through valleys and over hills. Minor roads to the monasteries and villages are narrower and sometimes rougher, and you will share them with horse-drawn carts. The road over the Ciumârna pass between Moldoviţa and Suceviţa is a classic, with tight bends and great views. Watch out for dogs, potholes and slow traffic.
Gura Humorului, six kilometres away, is a small town with fuel, hotels, restaurants and shops. Bukovina cuisine is hearty: ciorbă rădăuţeană, a sour soup with chicken and cream, sarmale and papanaşi, fried doughnuts with cream and jam. The monasteries welcome visitors, but modest dress is expected, and nuns may ask you to cover shoulders and knees.