The former monastic hermitage of Inătești or Inotești, situated in the grounds of the ‘Saint Nicholas’ Secondary Theological Seminary in Râmnicu Vâlcea, is an ancient monastic settlement, the origins of which are shrouded in the mystery of centuries past.
The name of the place can be linked both to local historical tradition and to the characteristics of medieval Romanian toponymy. One explanation links it to the old boyar estate at Hinătești, situated on the outskirts of Râmnic, on the right bank of the Morilor stream. From a linguistic perspective, the place name Hinătești/Inotești appears to have an anthroponymic origin, typical of numerous Romanian names ending in the collective suffix ‘-ești’, which indicates affiliation with the descendants or people of a local founder. In this context, it is possible that the name derives from a medieval personal name such as Hinotă/Inotă, which has now disappeared or is very rarely encountered. The variations Hinătești and Inotești may reflect phonetic and orthographic developments specific to Old Romanian. In the absence of earlier documentary evidence, however, the exact origin of the name remains hypothetical.
Not much is known about the antiquity of the Inătești hermitage. The fact that the settlement is first recorded in a charter issued on 20 May 1388 by Mircea the Elder proves that it was much older than the date of its first documented mention. According to some historians, ‘it must be counted amongst our oldest monasteries’, dating from the era that gave Oltenia its great monasteries, Tismana and Cozia1.
It can be said that there was also a church on the estate of the boyar Tatul (we do not know whether it was made of wood or stone). In another charter issued by Mircea the Elder, the site of Hinătești appears, later on, as a village, with boundaries extending as far as Troian and the waters of the Râmnic (8 May 1392)2.
Boyar Tatul, having no heirs, donated the estate to Cozia Monastery, together with all the buildings and the church erected by his ancestors; the founder of the 14th-century church remains unknown.
Radu II Praznaglava (1420–1422; 1426–1427)3, the illegitimate son of Mircea the Elder and a ruler temporarily supported by the Ottomans, granted the Cozia Monastery, on 19 June 1421, at Creața (now Urziceni, Ilfov County), the endowments previously made by his father, which included ‘the metochions at Râmnic’, along with ‘5 mills and a further 45 Gypsy settlements, the village of Hinătești and a salt works at Ocna de Sus’4. The mention of these metochions at Râmnic, closely linked to the village of Hinătești, suggests the possibility that one of them may have been the hermitage at Inătești itself.
On 24 May 1501, Prince Radu the Great confirmed to Cozia Monastery the villages of Hinătești and Ulița in Râmnic “in their entirety, together with the entire princely vineyard”5.
The present church, dedicated to the ‘Annunciation’6, dates from 1751; its founders were Rafail, the abbot of Cozia Monastery, and Vasile the monk, a monk from Cozia, the settlement being a metochion of the Holy Cozia Monastery7.
As the inscription has not survived, an important charter, signed by His Grace Gregory of Râmnic, sheds light on the act of foundation from the 18th century:
‘Gregory, Bishop of Râmnic, bear witness: the Lord God commanded the children of Israel in the Old Law to give a tithe of all their earnings every year. Likewise, in the New Law, the Holy Apostles and the Holy Fathers of the holy councils have commanded and enjoined upon us, the last of the children, that we should strive, some through prayer, vigils and fasting, and others through almsgiving and other good deeds, each according to their ability and with all their strength, to strive for the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, it is known that from ancient times and since the founding of the land, this custom has been practised by good and God-loving Christians: Lords and metropolitans, bishops, boyars and every Christian, according to their own judgement, build houses of God, holy monasteries, and even metochions, some in the mountains and forests, as well as in towns and villages, for the glory of God and in praise of His most pure Mother and all His Saints, and for the forgiveness of sins and their eternal remembrance. So I too, Vasile the Monk, who took the monastic vows at the holy Monastery of Cozia from a young age, and being unable to follow in the footsteps of others’ good deeds and greatly fearingof the question posed to the lazy servant who buried his master’s talent, I resolved in my heart to build a holy church on the estate of the holy monastery at the metochion in Râmnic; and realising that I could not do this alone—a thought which constantly grieved me— I consulted His Holiness, the abbot of the holy monastery, the hieromonk Rafail, and found him to be of one mind with me and well-equipped for this task. And so, together with His Holiness, I set about building the holy stone church to the glory of God, in honour and praise of the Annunciation of the Most Pure Mother of God, and for the eternal remembrance of ourselves and our entire lineage. And after we had completed this aforementioned church, in that very same year it so happened that my brother Radul the butcher died; and as he left no sons of his own flesh, nor any other brothers, I became the sole heir to all my brother Radu’s possessions; thus, all other matters were settled as I had deemed fit, giving various items from my brother’s estate to other relatives as well, so that they might commemorate him for as long as they live. Among these, of all that remained from my brother, there also remained a vineyard, which is situated at the top of the hill called Troian, opposite the Mișei farmstead near the boundary of the Holy Monastery of Cozia, known as Enătești. For this vineyard, I have therefore decided to bestow it as a gift and dedicate it to the Holy Hermitage at Râmnic, so that it may serve as a source of sustenance for the church and the monk-fathers who shall dwell at this holy hermitage, and for my brother Radul, myself, and our parents, that they may be remembered for ever. And I have inscribed the names of our parents and our own upon the great memorial list of the Holy Monastery of Cozia, so that they may be remembered for ever alongside the blessed founders. Therefore, let the Holy Monastery of Cozia henceforth be held in peaceful possession by all our kin and relatives, for we have given it of our own free will. And as a further assurance of our sincerity, I have confirmed this donation with my seal and signature. 11 August, year 7259 [1751]. Given by Vasile, monk of the Holy Monastery of Cozia. And I, Lavrentie, the teacher-hieromonk, have written this, under the guidance of Father Vasile.”
The document analysed clearly attests to the following: the present church, dedicated to the ‘Annunciation’, was rebuilt in the year 1751. The founders of this holy place were the monk Vasile of Cozia and the hieromonk Rafail, the ‘spiritual father’ of the Holy Monastery of Cozia. In the year the hermitage was founded, the monk Vasile donated to his foundation a vineyard inherited from his late brother, Radu, a grocer from Râmnic. Subsequently, on 2 June 1754, Voivode Constantin Mihai Racoviță confirmed the donation made by Vasile the Monk to the Inătești Hermitage concerning the vineyard at Troianu, as well as the right of ownership over certain movable assets, originating from Radu, a tanner and grocer, consisting of a double-pipe cauldron, two oxen, a cow and twelve beehives8.
On the main door of the church at Inătești, there was once an inscription in Cyrillic script, bearing witness to the antiquity and cultural traditions specific to that era. The text read: ‘Leat 7302’, a notation corresponding to the year 1794 according to the current chronology9. Despite its modest dimensions, the building, with its evident Brâncoveanu influence, is an architectural monument of great value. The open porch rests on two stone pillars, with carved decorations (which are believed to have come from the previous church; the same is said of the stone window frames), marking the entrance to the narthex and the nave. Furthermore, the main entrance is highlighted by a carved stone frame, remarkable for its artistic and ornamental value.
The triconch plan of the nave is characterised by the side apses and features a central polygonal tower. The altar apse presents a complex composition, flanked by the functional niches of the proskomidia and the diaconicon. The fresco decoration, preserved exclusively in the narthex, is attributed to the master painters Marin and Constantin; their autograph, artfully inscribed on the mantle of Saint George, attests to the authorship of the painting and enhances the monument’s documentary value.
A distinctive feature of the complex is the altar, flanked by two apses corresponding to the proskomidia and the diaconicon, above which rise two small towers, resembling chapels10. Nicolae Iorga noted the elegance of the building’s exterior, describing it as having ‘tall walls, a waist in the middle, and a pentagonal altar’, emphasising the nobility of its architectural lines11. The originality and beauty of the building stem from the two small structures situated in place of the side apses, resembling delicate little churches, each with its own roof and slender turrets, topped with small crosses.
Following the secularisation of the monastery’s assets, the church ceased its monastic activities and served for a time as a private chapel on the estate of the boyar Olănescu. Over time, the church has undergone several restoration works, carried out in the years 1862–1864, 1902–1903, 1929, 1934, 1956, 1970, 1991–1998 and 2003–2005 (the work was carried out on the initiative of Archimandrite Vartolomeu Androni, abbot of Cozia Monastery and director of the Theological Seminary), with the aim of restoring it to its original appearance. Nicolae Ghika-Budești left us, in 1936, two photographs, a description of the ‘small monument displaying unusual features’ and a mention of the church’s frescoes, which had recently been restored12. The architect Gheorghe Simionescu and the craftsmen Mihail and Gheorghe Teodorescu actually worked on the restoration of the Inătești Hermitage in 1934.
The 1944 monograph-guide by Father Professor Constantin Grigore classifies the place of worship as a ‘private chapel’, alongside the one at Troian13.
In the churchyard, on the left-hand side, stood the ‘Cross of Mihnea Vodă’ (the Cross of the Mișei), made by the Cozieni abbots Serafim and Ghenadie in 171814. Between 1992 and 1994, a parish complex in the Brâncoveanu style was built nearby, housing numerous ancient liturgical objects – filigree crosses, icons and other heritage artefacts – considered representative elements of the national cultural heritage.
The documents also mention a hermitage dedicated to ‘Saint George the Trophy-Bearer’ (the Victorious One), also on the estate at Inătești, founded by Ghenadie, proegumen of Cozia. Although it has been confused with the one dedicated to the ‘Annunciation’, the document dated 8 August 7273 (1765), signed by Sofronie, the abbot of Cozia (1756–1757, 1758–1761), which refers to “the small hermitage dedicated to the Great Martyr George the Trophy-Bearer”, suggests that these are two different places of worship15.
Constantin Cehan Racoviță intervened in the conflict between Bishop Grigorie Socoteanu and the pro-abbot Ghenadie of Cozia, supporting the latter and defending the hermitage dedicated to Saint George16. In a letter of homage addressed on 8 August 1765 to Sofronie, the archimandrite of the monastery, Ghenadie describes the circumstances in which he founded the new monastery: “[...] so I set to work with axe and fire to clear [a] barren forest, and I planted and expanded the vineyard, and I built this small sanctuary for the saint”17. The same document also specifies the location of the hermitage, situated “in the middle of the Enătești estate”. Built of wood and of modest dimensions, the hermitage was abandoned after the founder’s death and gradually faded from the memory of the local community.
On 15 July 1860, Alexandru Odobescu, accompanied by the painter Henry Trenk, visited the Inătești Hermitage. The watercolour painting ‘Inotești near Râmnicu Vâlcei, a metochion of Cozia’, created by Trenk, was handed over on 19 May 1861, along with fifteen other works, to the Ministry of Religious Affairs18.
The 1893 Geographical Dictionary of Vâlcea County describes the hermitage and estate as follows: “Inătești, a hermitage on the outskirts of the town of Râmnic, on the right bank of the River [M]orilor. It belongs to Cozia Monastery. The property was sold by the state and the hermitage—now a parish church—became private property, with a priest paid from the owner’s funds officiating there. The hermitage’s cells served for a long time as a place of pre-trial detention. The hermitage was surrounded by a forest of about 40 hectares.”19
The Swiss painter and engraver Anton Kaindl (1872–1951) arrived in Romania in 1921, at the invitation of the Royal Family and Queen Marie, subsequently becoming one of the most important visual documentarians of interwar Romanian architecture. He travelled through numerous regions of the country, including the Râmnic area, where he also produced the engraving depicting the Inătești Hermitage. The engraving ‘Inătești Hermitage, Rm. Vâlcea’ (c. 1921–1923) is one of the works through which Kaindl captured Romanian religious monuments and traditional landscapes, many of which have since disappeared or been transformed. His work is valued both for its aesthetic qualities and for its historical significance.
In the 1925 Yearbook, the church in the suburb of Inătești is mentioned as forming part of the ‘Buna Vestire’ (Annunciation) Parish in the town centre, alongside Cetățuia and Ostroveni20.
In the early 1980s, the architect and painter Horia Bernea produced a series of watercolours and sketches dedicated to the Inătești Hermitage. This series coincides with his period of in-depth research into Romanian sacred architecture, a phase during which the artist travelled and visually documented numerous churches and hermitages in the Oltenia region and Vâlcea County. The works in this cycle both precede and conceptually pave the way for his major series of ‘Church Interiors’ from the second half of the 1980s.
Within the hermitage grounds stands the Olănescu Manor House, built in the 18th century and originally serving as the abbot’s residence; it was subsequently rebuilt into its present form during the 19th century. The building is one of the few surviving examples of old Râmnic, having been built in the traditional Romanian style on the former estate of the Hinătești family. This historic monument, which underwent successive restorations in the 19th and 20th centuries, has served various purposes over the years, functioning in turn as the hermitage’s abbot’s residence, a remand centre, a boyar’s estate, a farmstead, a nursery school, a dispensary, a museum and a centre for visual artists.
The Inătești estate was secularised in 1864. From the autumn of that year, the Government made the buildings on the estate available to the Vâlcea County Council for the purpose of establishing a remand centre. The church of the former hermitage was used to conduct religious services for those in detention. The Vâlcea County Council restored the buildings known as the ‘Prisoners’ Quarters’ in 1867.
As there were no serfs on this estate who could be granted land ownership, the state decided to put the land up for auction, which took place on 8 January 1871. The Inătești estate, together with the church and the associated buildings – although these were not explicitly mentioned in the deed of sale – was purchased by the lawyer Petre Olănescu, a former Member of Parliament and prefect of Argeș County, from the Vâlcea County Council (the transfer of possession took place on 11 December 1872). Subsequently, the former official, against whom allegations were circulating regarding the acquisition of the property through abuse of power and influence-peddling, brought a lawsuit against the state, arguing that the authorities were continuing to use his estate as a remand centre. Ultimately, the parties reached a compromise, and the remand centre continued to operate there only between 1874 and 1881.
The heir to the estate21, comprising the church and manor house, was his son, Gheorghe Olănescu, who bequeathed everything to his wife, Elefteria, through a voluntary partition of the estate concluded on 20 April 1920.
Nicolae Iorga, chairman of the Commission for Historical Monuments, visited the complex at Inătești in 1939, together with delegates from the International Congress of Byzantine Studies. Outraged by the poor state of conservation of the buildings, he proposed to Râmnicu Vâlcea Town Hall that the church of the former hermitage and the manor house there 22 be expropriated. At the insistence of the owner, this plan was abandoned; the church, serving as the manor’s chapel, was to have a paid caretaker and remain open to visitors, on condition that it be restored at her own expense and without any alterations23. On 17 May 1939, the historian and man of letters Nicolae Iorga granted Elefteria Olănescu permission to restore the church, on the express condition that the work carried out should fully preserve the original form and character of the building, without altering its structure, architecture or authentic features.
Another request had come from the hieromonk Dorotei Florea, the abbot of Cozia Monastery, who had asked Elefteria Olănescu, in 1941, to re-establish the hermitage as a metochion of the monastery, and for the surrounding houses to be converted into a shelter for the poor or a dispensary24.
Upon the death of Elefteria Olănescu on 12 April 1942, the church and the manor house had passed into the possession of her two daughters, Alexandrina, married name Budurescu, and Maria, married to the lawyer Petre Măinescu (in 1928). The new owners wished to have their portraits painted in the church on their estate, alongside the restoration of the murals, but this request was rejected by the members of the Commission for Historical Monuments25. In 1929, the owners carried out consolidation work at their own expense, but with technical assistance from the Commission for Historical Monuments. An iron ring beam was fitted at that time and the more recent painting was removed. On this occasion, the old, 18th-century painting was discovered beneath the plaster, which had been covered by a modern painting.
In the autumn of 1944 (September–November), the Soviet Military Command in Râmnic had taken up residence in the manor house at Inătești, leaving behind significant material damage.
In March 1945, part of the Inătești estate was expropriated, but the manor house and 50 hectares of land were retained as a model farm by the owner Petre Măinescu, who had inherited the estate through his wife.
Until 1949, the estate had belonged to the lawyer Petre Măinescu, Maria’s husband, who had been elected senator for Vâlcea on behalf of Nicolae Iorga’s Nationalist-Democratic Party. A veritable legend circulated in the town about this owner: it was said that, as the senator’s wife’s due date approached, he ordered his servants to cover the cobbled street with carpets, in order to reduce the noise made by the carts heading towards the town centre.
The property was nationalised in March 1949, amidst the political and economic transformations imposed by the communist regime, which were enshrined, amongst other things, by the famous Plenary Session of the Romanian Workers’ Party (PMR) held from 3 to 5 March 1949, which marked the acceleration of the process of collectivisation and the extension of state control over private property. Subsequently, the property came into the possession of the Râmnicu Vâlcea State Agricultural Farm. Over time, its use changed repeatedly, serving successively as a health centre, a nursery school and a museum. In 1976, the complex – comprising the church, the manor house and its associated outbuildings – came under the administration of the Vâlcea County Museum26.
In 1984, the church was restored by the Vâlcea County Committee for Culture and Socialist Education, and the abbot’s residence was converted into a museum of medieval art. However, this museum project was abandoned in 1987 due to the impossibility of ensuring adequate security conditions for the exhibits. In the same year, the manor house also housed the creative studios of painters from the Sibiu Branch of the Union of Visual Artists. From 1995, the Ministry of Education was granted administration of the building and the associated land by a Government Decision27, with a view to constructing the new premises of the ‘Saint Nicholas’ Seminary in Râmnicu Vâlcea. In 2006, the land on which the manor house and church stood was claimed by the heirs of the Măinescu family, who were subsequently compensated28.
In 2021, the Olănescu House was included in the National Investment Company’s (CNI) programme. Râmnicu Vâlcea Town Hall has taken over the land on which the ‘Saint Nicholas’ Theological Seminary was built, and, shortly, the historic building will undergo extensive consolidation and restoration work, approved by the Ministry of Culture.
The Inătești Hermitage is one of the oldest and most valuable monastic settlements associated with Cozia Monastery, having preserved the spiritual, cultural and historical heritage of Râmnicu Vâlcea over the centuries. Its evolution, from an ancient medieval metochion to a historic monument, now integrated into the grounds of the ‘Saint Nicholas’ Theological Seminary, reflects the continuity of the Orthodox tradition and the transformations of Romanian society over time. Through the originality of its architecture, the documentary value of its sources and the interest shown by historians, artists and restorers, the Inătești Hermitage remains a key landmark of Vâlcea’s heritage and a living testament to Romanian cultural and religious identity.
- 1
Ion Donat, ‘The Religious Foundations of Oltenia’, in Arhivele Olteniei, XV, 1936, pp. 14–16.
- 2
Documenta Romaniae Historica (DRH), B, Wallachia, vol. I, p. 44.
- 3
Praznaglava would mean ‘empty-headed’ or ‘brainless’ (praznu = empty, glava = head).
- 4
DRH, B, I, p. 99.
- 5
DRH, B, II, p. 17.
- 6
A valuable national cultural heritage site, situated at 5 Antim Ivireanul Street, listed on the Register of Historic Monuments since 1955 (code 2180, then in the 1991–1992 List of Historical Monuments (code 39B0027), the 2004 List of Historical Monuments (VL-IIm-B-09596) and the 2015 List of Historical Monuments (VL-II-m-B-09596).
- 7
Fr. Ion Popescu-Cilieni, ‘Unknown Hermitages of Oltenia. The Hermitage at Inătești, dedicated to the Annunciation’, in Mitropolia Olteniei, vol. VIII (1956), nos. 1–3, pp. 125–127.
- 8
Petre Năsturel Vasiliu, ‘Churches, monasteries and hermitages in Oltenia’, in Journal of History, Archaeology and Philology, XIV, Ed. “Carol Göbl” Institute of Graphic Arts, Bucharest, 1911, pp. 289–292.
- 9
Grigore Tocilescu, Manuscript Collection, Library of the Romanian Academy (BAR), Ms. rom. 358, f. 358.
- 10
Vasile Drăguț, Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Romanian Medieval Art, Ed. Științifică și Enciclopedică, Bucharest, 1976, p. 261.
- 11
Nicolae Iorga, Romania as it was until 1918: Villages and Monasteries in Romania, Bucharest, 1905, pp. 88–89.
- 12
Nicolae Ghika-Budești, ‘The Development of Architecture in Muntenia and Oltenia. III. The 17th Century’, in BCMI, XXIX, issues 87–90, Bucharest, 1936, p. 110.
- 13
Fr. Constantin Grigore, Râmnicul-Vâlcii – A Place of Memories and Recreation (monograph-guide), Râmnicul-Vâlcii Town Council, 1944, pp. 34–35.
- 14
The Cross of the Martyrs is currently located in the churchyard of the Church of the Annunciation in Râmnicu Vâlcea.
- 15
Ion Popescu-Cilieni, op. cit., pp. 114–115.
- 16
National Archives of Bucharest (ANB), mss. 209, f. 83.
- 17
Ion Popescu-Cilieni, op. cit., p. 144.
- 18
Aurelian Sacerdoțeanu, ‘Historical and Picturesque Research into Our Monasteries Eighty Years Ago – The Works of Al. Odobescu, H. Trenk and G. Tătărescu”, in Arhiva Românească, vol. VII, Cartea Românească Publishers, Bucharest, 1941, p. 315.
- 19
Constantin Alessandrescu, Geographical Dictionary of Vâlcea County, Thoma Basilescu Printing House and Type Foundry, Bucharest, 1893, p. 205.
- 20
Vartolomeu Stănescu, Bishop of Râmnic (ed.), Yearbook of the Diocese of Râmnic–Noul Severin for the years 1921–1925, Bucharest, United Romanian Printing Works, 1925, p. 495.
- 21
Vâlcea County Branch of the National Archives (SJVAN), the Măinescu family collection, File 123. Documents of the Olănescu family: pp. 23–24. Minutes of 2 December 1872: Radu Păunescu, Sub-Prefect of the Ocol District, was authorised by the Prefect to place Petre P. Olănescu in possession of the Inătești estate. The Inătești estate had been sold to the Olănescu family by deed of sale on 8 January 1871.
- 22
Ibid., f. 9: Letter from the CMI dated 3 April 1939 to the Mayor of Rm. Vâlcea, requesting him to take the necessary measures, as the Commission for Historical Monuments had decided to expropriate the church in Inătești. Chairman, N. Iorga; Director of the CMI/Secretary, V. Brătulescu.
- 23
Ibid., f. 4: Request from family members to the Chair of the Commission for Historical Monuments to abandon the expropriation of the little church in Inătești (a measure requested by the Commission via the Royal Residence of Olt to the Râmnicu Vâlcea Town Hall); f. 5: bearing the signatures of the family members: Elefteria Gh. Olănescu, Alexandrina Budurescu (née Olănescu), Nicolae Budurescu, Maria Măinescu (née Olănescu), Petre Al. Măinescu.
- 24
Ibid., f. 4.
- 25
The Yearbook of the Commission for Historical Monuments for 1942, Official Gazette, Bucharest, 1943, p. 28.
- 26
Decision No. 114 of 31 March 1976.
- 27
Government Decision No. 579 of 1995.
- 28
Florin Epure, ‘Râmnicu Vâlcea, imbued with the scent of a bygone era: the Olănescu House’, in Clipa magazine, March 2011.