The Chapel of St Mary from Secu Monastery
The religious settlement from Secu is organized in few buildings and each and everyone has a great historic and religious value. Secu Monastery was built just like a medieval fortress with thick stone walls. The church is located in the middle and on two corners there are two chapels: St Nicolae and St Mary open for pilgrims to visit it.
St. Mary Chapel called “Paraclisul Adormirii Maicii Domnului” was built in 1640 by the monk Ghedeon. Over time this chapel suffered many modifications. The stone from the entrance in the chapel where it’s written a short history of the building actually belongs to St Nicolae Church from Neamt Fortress and was brought here in 1718 together with other religious objects.
In 1853, the monk Iulian made the iconostasis from the chapel (the same monk painted the iconostasis from the other chapel of Secu Monastery, St Nicolae Chapel). The religious icons from St Mary Cahpel’s iconostasis are made in the Renascence style. The sculptures were covered in gold and made in the baroque style.
In 1958, Ghervasie Hulubaru made the paintings from the entrance door of the chapel in a neo-byzantine style. This painting depicts the scene of St Mary leaving this world. The interior of the chapel was never painted which rarely happens in a Romanian Orthodox building.
Pilgrims come to this chapel mainly because of two holy relics of father Vichentie Malau and father Antim Gaina. These two monks that lived in the mountains from Neamt County are well known for their faith and for the fact that they managed to guide many lost souls on the right path.
Leave your response!