Nowhere in Romania can more churches, monasteries and hermitages be found in such a compact area as in Moldavia. Most of them are hundreds of years old.

Built especially by the Moldavian Voievods of the Musatin family (Petru Musat I, Ilias, Petru, Alexandru the Good, Bogdan II, Stephen the Great, Petru Rares), these splendid monasteries at the same time served as the princely necropolis. Stephen the Great (1457-1504) during his 47 years of ruling, built a church or a monastery after each of his battles against the Turks, Hungarians or Poles, according to the chronicler Ion Neculce. It is not known how much truth there is in this statement, but it is certain that the prince left dozens of places of worship. The Reign of Petru Rares (1527-1538; 1541-1546) continued the tradition of the great Voievod Stephen the Great. From this period date the priceless murals at Arbore, Voronet, Humor, Moldovita and Probota, churches all listed by UNESCO as world heritage sites.

The exterior walls of a number of churches in Moldavia are covered in mural painted in incomparable hues of red, yellow, blue and green. Those who see them will never forget these ancient images of the sacred and profane history of the world.

The Voronet Monastery, 5 km from Gura Humorului, is considered to be the "Sistine Chapel of the East". On the west facade of the church founded by Stephen the Great in 1488, there is a depiction of the Last Judgment. It was painted between 1534 and 1535 against a background whose inimitable shade of blue has become famous.The origin of the "Voronet blue" have still not been elucidated.

The Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist from Arbore (1503) 32 km north-west of Suceava, was part of the boyar court of Luca Arbore, the gatekeeper of Suceava in the time of Stephen the Great. The exterior murals were painted in 1541 by Dragos Coman of Iasi, reckoned "a true Pisanello of Moldavia, the greatest artist of the Orthodox East in the 16 th century". In the porch can be found the tomb of the founder, the most representative gothic funerary monument in all Moldavia.

Humor's Monastery Church, situated 6 km north of Gura Humorului town, and is one of the most impressive monuments of Romanian mediaeval art. It was built in 1530 by Tudor Bubuiog, the commander of Petru Rares's artillery. It preserves the admirable Byzantine murals painted in 1535 by Toma Zugravul of Suceava. The predominant color is brick red, which distinguishes it chromatically from other such churches.

Moldovita, founded in 1532 by Petru Rares, is one of the most beautiful of all the churches with exterior murals in Bukovina. It is remarkable for the golden luster of its murals, executed by Toma of Suceava in 1537. The best known of the mural scenes is the Siege of Constantinople, on the south facade.

Sucevita Monastery, the most fortified of the monastic complexes of Moldavia, dates from 1581-1601. It is situated 18km west of Radauti. The exterior murals of this foundation are remarkable for their chromatic refinement, painted against a predominantly green background. Most impressive is the scene representing the ladder of the virtues, painted on the north facade. It is regarded as the last representative example of the architectural style that crystallized in the epoch of Stephen the Great.

Probota Monastery situated 5 km from the town of Dolhasca, was built in 1530 by Petru Rares. It is one of the greatest achievements of Moldavian feudal architecture of the 16 th century. The monastery church has both interior and exterior murals, painted in 1532 in the style of the Rares epoch. The murals were recently restored.

The Patrauti Church, 12 km far from Suceava was founded by Stephen the Great in 1487.

The construction of the Church of St George at the Monastery of St John the New in Suceava began during the time of Bogdan III (1514) son of Stephen the Great, and was completed by Stefanita Voda in 1522. Of the exterior murals, dating from the time of Petru Rares (1532-1534), only fragments have been preserved, on the south wall. The church houses the relics of St John the New, brought to Suceava in 1402 by Alexander the Kind.