41 Stefan cel Mare Street, Botoşani

https://popauti.mmb.ro/

Popăuți Monastery is a monastery of monks located in the municipality of Botoșani, on Str. Ștefan cel Mare no. 41, near the train station.

It was founded in 1496 by the voivode Ștefan cel Mare (1457-1504).

The "St. Nicolae"-Popăuți Church was built in 1496 as a church of myrrh, being founded by Ștefan cel Mare on the "princely estate on the border of the fair" of the Botoșani, in the area called Popăuți in the northwest of the city. It presents several similarities with other city churches built at the end of the reign of the Moldavian voivode, namely with the "St. Nicolae" Church in Dorohoi and the "St. Gheorghe" Church in Hârlău. The construction was completed on September 30, 1496.

The church was part of a fortified complex, which also included a princely palace and a bell tower. Stephen the Great stayed in the princely palace next to the church on his way to the Princely Court in Hârlău. According to the chronicles, on July 22, 1518, Prince Petru Rareș also arrived here. During the 16th century, the church underwent several modifications. It was not until 1626 that the village of Popăuți was formed, until then the church was located in the middle of the forests of Botoșani.

In 1750, Prince Constantin Racoviță (1749-1753 and 1756-1757) transformed the Popăuți Church into a monastery for monks.

As a result of the fact that the church, Mrs. Ana, the wife of Mihai Racoviță and the mother of Constantin Racoviță "renovated it from scratch (...) and adorned it with vestments". On this occasion, a stone wall was built surrounding the premises, cells were erected and the church was adorned. Several rulers endowed the monastery with estates,

In 1753, ruler Constantin Racoviță dedicated the Popăuți Monastery to the Patriarchate of Antioch, settling Greek monks here. The monastery's borders were strengthened by the acts of Grigore III Ghica (1776), Alexandru I Mavrocordat (1783) and Alexandru Moruzi (1803). The monastery's estates, along with the ponds and vineyards, are leased by the abbots of Popăuți, bringing great income to the Greek monks

During the administration of the monastery by the Greek monks, the original mural painting was restored in the "a secco" (tempera) technique, a Baroque pulpit was added to the northern wall of the nave and a cafas in the narthex.

The law on the secularization of monastic assets in 1863 led to the monastery being stripped of its owned estates, and the Popăuți Monastery became a church of myrrh. In turn, the properties of the former monastery were ceded by the City Hall of Botoșani to various institutions: the abbot's houses were given to the army in 1868, the orchard was taken over by the Railway Company in 1870.

The reduction of the monastery to the rank of a church of myrrh had negative effects on the monastic ensemble. The church deteriorated, being covered with sheet metal in 1891. However, the deterioration of the church increased and as a result of the fact that on May 12, 1897 the upper half of the iconostasis collapsed, the Botoșani Archdeaconry decided on July 15, 1897 to close the church, as it had reached a critical state of preservation.

The "St. Nicholas" Church and the bell tower were practically saved by declaring them as historical monuments in 1897, the Romanian state taking over the task of restoring them. At the beginning of the 20th century (1898-1908), the church was restored at the initiative of the Historical Monuments Commission. The restoration works of the church were led by the architect Constantin Băicoianu and completed in 1908. As a result of these works, the original appearance of the monument was modified by cladding the original masonry with a series of decorative elements such as glazed brick, ceramic discs, burnt brick, in a completely new facing, with geometric shapes. On this occasion, the door on the northern side of the narthex was built and the level of the interior pavement and the exterior sidewalk was artificially raised by about 30 - 50 cm. The bell tower was repaired in 1908.

During the period 1926-1927, restoration works were carried out on the mural painting inside the church by the painters Ștefan Stroyni and V. Gallin, under the coordination of I. Mihail, specialist painter of the Historical Monuments Commission. These interventions only partially preserved the association with the original materials and style. Some frescoes were washed away and the vivid, period color was thus lost.] On October 2, 1927, the church was reopened, on this occasion a religious service was celebrated, performed by Patriarch Miron Cristea.

In 1928, in the courtyard of the former monastery, a museum was established by the iconom priest Al. Simionescu, archpriest of Botoșani.

In 1991, Metropolitan Daniel Ciobotea of Moldavia and Bukovina re-established the Popăuți Monastery, which was populated with monks only in 1996.