Located on the Danube Defile, in Orşova, on the crest of Moşului Hill, a place that offers an unique landscape, Saint Ana Monastery was founded by Pamfil Şeicaru, the greatest Romanian journalist between the two world wars, who fought here as a lieutenant in the WWI. He wanted to express his gratitude to God, because he survived after it had been buried here by a bomb explosion. For the facts of his courage, Pamfil Şeicaru was granted the title Knight of the Order of Mihai Viteazul.
Built between 1936 and 1939, the monastery was supposed to be dedicated to Saint Ana, after the name of the founder's mother, but wasn't holy dwelled immediately after the completion of the construction, and remained so until 1990, because of the WWII and afterwards by the establishment of the communist regime. After 1945, the monastery was a sanatorium for patients suffering from tuberculosis and camp for children, the church being transformed for a while in a bar then in a motel reception.
The construction of the monastery was preceded in 1935 by the construction of a 1,5 km causeway built through the forest, called the Heroes Road, that ascends from the location of the old town to the Moşului Hill. On the road’s sides there were 7 trinities and wooden rest benches, in which there were carved inscriptions for each regiment that participated to the battles from Alion, Cerna and Orşova, in August-November 1916. The trinities deteriorated progressive and disappeared in the 1960s.
The monastic complex was originally composed from a wooden church, with elements of traditional Romanian style, and cells for nuns on both sides, forming the letter U. The interior of the church resembles a straight cross, with ample apses and a hexagonal belfry. In the 1970s, the murals were covered by lime, only the ones in the belfry being preserved. After it was taken back by the rightful owner in 1990, the steeple with a summer altar and a former public nutrition block in which currently works Pamfil Şeicaru Memorial Museum, the library, the refectory and a sewing workshop were built.
About the stamp
The stamp is part of the series Love Nature! Ceahlău National Park, about which I wrote here.
References
St. Ana Monastery - Romguide
Saint Ana Monastery - ProMehedinţi
St. Ana Monastery of Orsova (Mehedinti), a foundation of great publicist Pamfil Seicaru - Agerpres
Sender: Adrian Păcurariu (direct swap)
Sent from Orşova (Mehedinţi / Romania) on 16.12.2016
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