Mănăstirea ZAMCA (Suceava, România)

Please turn ON English subtitles! - Vă rog să activați subtitrarea în românește! In Suceava (Moldova, Romania), among the Armenian cult edifices that remind of this particularly numerous ethnic group (several thousand) in the medieval period, the most representative is the Zamca Monastery located at the end of a high plateau in the northern part of the city. The monastery includes three main buildings (the central church dedicated to Saint Auxentius, the western episcopal building with the chapel of Saint Mary and the eastern bell tower with the chapel of Saint Gregory the Illuminator) enclosed in an enclosure protected by a four-sided stone wall. Through archaeological research carried out in the period 1954-1956, it was established that all the constructions of the monastery date from the beginning of the 17th century. Although the current number of Armenians in Suceava is tiny (probably under 100), the Romanian state restored the monastery in the years 1957-1965 and 1994-2003. The Church of Saint Auxentius (he lived in the 5th century in the area of Constantinople, having the grace of healing and foresight) was consecrated on August 14, 2004. It is a simple construction (altar, nave and narthex) and we note, according to the Armenian tradition, the presence of three altars, of which the main one in the apse of the church, and two other small altars in side niches. In the middle of the nave is the tombstone of the founder, Agopsa (Iacob) Vartan, on which is recorded the year of his death, 1602, also considered the year of the construction of the church. From the original painting of the church, only a few fragments are preserved on the southern wall of the nave. The belfry is attached to the south wall, has four levels and encloses a former gangway, later blocked up, but in the keystone of which the year of construction is inscribed, 1606. To the first floor, which is reached by a staircase in spiral, rebuilt, is the chapel dedicated to Saint Gregory the Illuminator who lived between 240-332, was the Christianiser of the Armenians and their first bishop. The vaulted entrance to the monastery is at the base of a massive building on the western side. The building was built in several stages, however, all at the beginning of the 17th century. On either side of the vaulted entrance were cells. In the northern part of the building, on the first floor, is the former chapel (unfortunately still unrenovated) dedicated to Saint Mary, according to some and Saint Jacob. In the central and southern part, still unrenovated, there are former cells and annexes of the former bishopric.