#Oltenia at the foot of the mountains

The article describes the church at Viorești, on the banks of the Cerna, a late 18th-century monument notable for its frieze depicting the procession of border guards. The author recounts his involvement, spanning more than 50 years, in the preservation of the church, alongside engineer Diaconu, architect Aurel Botez and painter Elena Murariu, with the support of the Ministry of Culture headed by Răzvan Theodorescu.

Arnota Monastery, founded in 1633 by Matei Basarab and hailed as the ‘Mount Tabor of Romanian Orthodoxy’, has undergone four phases of revival, the most recent of which began in January 2018 on the initiative of the abbess, Mother Stavroforă Ambrozia Rucăreanu, as part of a major restoration project coordinated by the architect Aurel Botez. The restoration work aims to uncover and restore the architectural ensemble to its former glory, linking this endeavour to the continuity of a great tradition of church-building embodied by Voivode Matei Basarab, the founder, amongst other things, of the Pravila of Govora.

The article profiles Patriarch Justinian Marina, to whom the Romanian Orthodox Christian calendar for 2017 is dedicated, presenting him as the son of a peasant from Suiești, Oltenia, who, through diplomacy and wisdom, saved the institution of the Church during the communist era, securing recognition for priests as guardians of historical monuments and keeping ecclesiastical structures operational. The author records the consecration, by the Archdiocese of Râmnic, of a church, a monastery and a house-museum built in the patriarch’s native village, as the central event of the commemorative year.