Coșula Monastery is a monastery of monks located in the village of Coșula (in Botoșani County), 20 kilometers southeast of the city of Botoșani. It can be reached by walking 3 km on a county road on the right of DN 28 B.

It was founded in 1535 by the advisor of the ruler Petru Rareș, the treasurer Mateiaș. It is dedicated to "St. Nicholas" and is considered one of the most important places of interest in Botoșani County. The church was painted in the period 1537-1538.

The exterior fresco, in which the legendary pigment "Coșula yellow" was used, impresses with its uniqueness, being the only monastery that had a painted exterior at that time.

The interior is unique, with the nave and narthex separated by a supporting arch, not a dividing wall, as was customary.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the monastery was an important cultural center, where the first translation into Romanian of a text from Herodotus was made by a monk from Coșula in the 18th century. The translation was based on an old manuscript in modern Greek, brought to Moldova from the island of Crete, where it had been translated from ancient Greek by a Greek monk. The translated text was deposited by historian Nicolae Iorga at the Romanian Academy. Also, a number of 372 documents were taken from the monastery and deposited at the National Archives.[10]

In a 1925 article, Tiberiu Crudu listed 5 large volumes of manuscripts that Nicolae Iorga took to take to the Romanian Academy, plus a series of 17 books "of indisputable value" and that were 200-300 years old. The author noted in the article that "the multitude of so many books with such varied content denotes that once, around the Coșula monastery, there was a clergy with a high and chosen culture". Also at that time, old cult objects were discovered in the church vestry, some of which dated from the reign of Petru Rareș.

Over time, several repairs and renovations were carried out to the monastic complex (in 1848, 1856-1858 [3] and 1978). During the 1858 repairs, the original fresco painting inside, dating from 1538, was covered with a new layer of oil paint. A porch was also built at the entrance to the church.

In 1908, the monastery was abandoned by the monks; the church became the village parish church, and the monastic buildings were given to the Ministry of Health to house a hospital.

Nicolae Iorga drew attention to the Coșula Monastery, emphasizing that this monastic complex is one of the very few old monuments in the Botoșani region.

In 1968, some work was carried out to consolidate the cellars.[3] In 1978, the church porch and the vestry were demolished.

In 1991, Metropolitan Daniel Ciobotea of Moldavia and Bukovina re-established the Coșula Monastery, bringing monks to take care of the restoration of monastic life in this medieval monastic complex. In 1996, the construction of two wall structures serving as cells, with wide verandas, was completed. 100 m northwest, the household annexes were built. The archondaric and abbot buildings were renovated.

The church was built according to the simple, trefoil plan, characteristic of many of the church monuments erected during the time of Stephen the Great and Petru Rareș. The building material used was rough stone for the straight walls and the base, and brick for the outline of the windows and the porticos.[14]

The side apses and the altar apse each have five large niches, above which there is a row of niches that surround the church like a belt. The niches and niches are also found in the tower above the nave.

Inside, the dividing wall between the narthex and the nave has been eliminated, which has been replaced by a strong arch that supports the vault and rests on the walls through consoles. Above the nave is an open tower with a polygonal base partially buried in the roof of the church.

The windows and doors have stone frames with Gothic elements. In 1958, the windows were widened. The roof of the church is made of copper alloy sheet metal, and the floor is made of concrete.

The Coșula Monastery Church was painted both inside and outside. Traces of the original fresco painting in the interior, dating from 1538, can still be seen under layers of oil painting dating from the 19th century (more precisely from 1858). Art specialists Sorin Ulea and Vasile Drăguț date the interior painting to the period 1537-1538. After the complete cleaning of some interior painting scenes, a painting of great aesthetic refinement was revealed.