Church of the Assumption of the Virgin of and Church of the Resurrection of Suceviţa Mon
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
243 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 42
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Mănăstirea Humorului it runs 243 km to Mănăstirea Humorului; allow about 5 h 42 of riding. It goes by way of Church of the Beheading of St John the Bap, Churches of Moldavia, Church of the Annunciation of the Monaster and Church of the Resurrection of Suceviţa Mon. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Church of the Assumption of the Virgin of
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of the Assumption of the Virgin of is where the day begins. Next is Church of the Beheading of St John the Bap.
2. Church of the Beheading of St John the Bap
Arbore is a village in Bucovina, in the north of Romania, and its church is one of the famous painted churches of Moldavia. It was built in 1503 by Luca Arbore, a nobleman at the court of Stephen the Great, and dedicated to the Beheading of St John the Baptist. Like the other painted churches of the region, its exterior walls are covered with frescoes, applied in the sixteenth century to teach the Bible to ordinary people who could not read. Arbore's frescoes, painted around 1541, are known for their green tones, and while weather has faded the walls facing the prevailing wind, the west facade still shows scenes of the Last Judgement, saints and the Book of Genesis in remarkable detail. UNESCO lists it among the eight churches of northern Moldavia.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of the Beheading of St John the Bap comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Churches of Moldavia.
3. Churches of Moldavia
Sucevița is the last and the largest of the great painted monasteries of Bucovina, and when you come down into its valley and see it for the first time, a squat fortress of white walls and towers with a church inside painted from eaves to plinth in deep greens, reds and blues, it stops you in your tracks. It was built in the 1580s and 1590s by the Movilă family, princes and churchmen of Moldavia, and its frescoes are among the best preserved of all the painted churches. UNESCO groups it with seven others as the churches of Moldavia.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 50 km into the recorded legs you reach Churches of Moldavia. Next is Church of the Annunciation of the Monaster.
4. Church of the Annunciation of the Monaster
Moldovița is the monastery that makes people go quiet in the courtyard. It sits in a green pocket of the Bukovina hills, ringed by a stout defensive wall with corner towers, and inside it the Church of the Annunciation is painted from the ground to the eaves with saints, prophets and battle scenes in blues, reds and ochres that have survived some five centuries of Carpathian weather. It was founded in the time of Petru Rareș, in the 1530s, and it belongs to the famous group of painted churches of northern Moldavia that UNESCO lists together.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of the Annunciation of the Monaster, about halfway. Next is Church of the Resurrection of Suceviţa Mon.
5. Church of the Resurrection of Suceviţa Mon
Green is the colour that defines Suceviţa, and it is a green you have to see to believe. The monastery, in the Bukovina hills of northern Romania, was built at the end of the sixteenth century by the Movilă family, princes of Moldavia, and its church of the Resurrection is covered, outside as well as in, with frescoes that run in unbroken bands over every wall. Where the neighbouring monasteries of Voroneț and Moldovița are known for blue and yellow, the dominant tone here is a deep, mossy green, and the effect in the shade of the surrounding spruce is almost underwater.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 243 km.
Leg by leg
Church of the Assumption of the Virgin of to Church of the Beheading of St John the Bap
Church of the Assumption of the Virgin of → Church of the Beheading of St John the Bap is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of the Beheading of St John the Bap to Churches of Moldavia
Church of the Beheading of St John the Bap → Churches of Moldavia is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Churches of Moldavia to Church of the Annunciation of the Monaster
Churches of Moldavia → Church of the Annunciation of the Monaster is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of the Annunciation of the Monaster to Church of the Resurrection of Suceviţa Mon
Church of the Annunciation of the Monaster → Church of the Resurrection of Suceviţa Mon is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of the Resurrection of Suceviţa Mon to back through Church of the Annunciation of the Monaster
Church of the Resurrection of Suceviţa Mon → back through Church of the Annunciation of the Monaster is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church of the Annunciation of the Monaster to back through Churches of Moldavia
back through Church of the Annunciation of the Monaster → back through Churches of Moldavia is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Churches of Moldavia to back through Church of the Beheading of St John the Bap
back through Churches of Moldavia → back through Church of the Beheading of St John the Bap is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church of the Beheading of St John the Bap to Church of the Assumption of the Virgin of
back through Church of the Beheading of St John the Bap → Church of the Assumption of the Virgin of is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.