The painted monasteries of Moldavia were built to thank God for battles won to protect the people and lands of Romania in the fifteenth century. Chris Deliso visits these artistic gems and explores their history Intrepid travellers who venture to Romania’s remote, rural province of Moldavia (bordering Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova) will be well rewarded; the five-centuries-old painted monasteries of Southern Bucovina found here are among Europe’s most stunning and historic.These shrines bear witness to the man who inaugurated their tradition, Stefan cel Mare (Stephen the Great). As Prince of Moldavia – one of Romania’s three constituent parts – his pious rule lasted from 1457 to 1504. After Communism, the revitalised Romanian Orthodox Church elevated h