On To Humor

We left the Blue Monastery and continued on to the village of Manastirea Humor which is the home of the Yellow Monastery. The monastery is different in that it is surrounded by a low wooden stockade as opposed to the stone walls of Voronet monastery. It was built by Teodor Bubuiog who was the chancellor of Petru Rares. The frescos here were painted by Toma of Suceava and the color palette differs from Voronet Blue and is based on madders with greens and blue tones included. This monastery features outside frescoes but they are in somewhat rougher shape than in Voronet. Featured are scenes of the Last Judgment with the Devil, Dracul, depicted as a woman in a scarlet dress. The gardens here are filled with lovely roses and on the grounds is a watchtower erected by Basil the Wolf. The monastery fell to invading Turks and sometime in the eighteenth century was closed. Today it is a convent for female monks. While there I attended services which were accompanied by the singing of the monks, a truly heavenly sound. I became lost in the sound, a feeling that must be akin to the whirling of Dervishes and some 45 minutes later I began to hear the whispering in my ear by one of my students that it was time to leave. Sadly, we left the monastery and its tranquil grounds. This monastery has a decidedly different feel than Voronet commercial feeling. While I was investigating inner worlds my students were investigating the immense watchtower.

We left the grounds and immediately outside of the monastery there is a small market where we met Borscht and Schnitzel the local dog and horse. Here we see Borscht giving a safety lesson to Schnitzel the horse. This horse drawn rig is an everyday form of transportation in Romania. Although less common in the major cities, it is still used in society.

Just down the road from the monastery were our accommodations for the night at Vila Andreea. Here is a photograph of the Vila and the lovely accommodations. Our meals were prepared by the owner and were excellent.