The Painted Monasteries of Romania

You would reasonably expect a monastery to have frescoes - inside. Yet a number of monasteries in the Romanian region of Moldavia have centuries old frescoes on the exterior of their katholikon (main church) which have, incredibly, survived the years and the elements. Perhaps the most famous, which you can see here, is the Voronet Monastery with its bright azurite background – known to Romanians as Voronet blue - but it is not alone in this remarkable tradition. Image Creditt Flickr User Waqas Ahmed Image Credit Flickr User Waqas Ahmed The scope of the fresco is enough to make you dizzy. Each part of the exterior wall seems to be dedicated to telling a Biblical story. On its western wall, it shows the Last Judgement. The northern wall shows Genesis with the southern wall featuring the family trees of people from the Old Testament. Yet what is, seemingly, implausible is that these frescoes have survived for so long without being touched up in any way. The paint, after all, is just a…