Cultural

Finland adds cross processions to National Living Heritage list

The Orthodox cross procession has been added to Finland’s National Living Heritage list. A “cross procession” in Finland is a religious procession organized at various important feasts throughout the year. “Hundreds of Orthodox churches and monasteries organise cross processions throughout the year, sometimes over long distances. Torches, flags, icons and the Gospel are carried in…

Oct 18, 2023Ștefana Totorcea

Via Transilvanica voted the public’s favourite at European Heritage Awards 2023

The European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2023 was held on Thursday in Venice. The Public Choice Award went to Via Transilvanica, Romania’s longest hiking trail. Via Transilvanica is 1,400 kilometres long and connects 12 UNESCO heritage sites. It starts at Putna Monastery and ends in Drobeta Turnu‑Severin, where Apollodorus of Damascus built a…

Sep 29, 2023Ștefana Totorcea

Pitești Prison classified as historical monument

The ensemble of Pitești Penitentiary, the former prison of anti-communist political prisoners, has been classified as a historical monument. The Romanian Minister of Culture, Raluca Turcan, signed an order on Wednesday. Pitesti Penitentiary was included in Romania’s List of Historical Monuments and was granted the regime of group A historical monument. Experts and specialists certified…

Jul 21, 2023Aurelian Iftimiu

Photo submission deadline extended for Colours of Orthodoxy contest dedicated to Greece

The photo submission deadline for the “Colours of Orthodoxy” contest has been extended until July 31. This year’s edition of the contest is dedicated to Greece. The competition is open to all professional and amateur photographers from around the world. Participation in the competition is free. Organisers reserve the right to extend the duration of…

Jul 15, 2023Ștefana Totorcea

The “Colours of Orthodoxy” photo contest promotes Greece this year

The “Colours of Orthodoxy” photo contest promotes Greece this year. The best photos will be exhibited and selected for the album “Colours of Orthodoxy. Greece”, to be published by the Polish Orthodox Church. Photo submissions are accepted until July 8, in the following categories: Places, Reportage, People, and Details. Participants are welcome to submit up…

Jun 21, 2023Ștefana Totorcea

Wiki Loves Monuments 2022: Photo of small wooden church in Bessarabia named among winners

A photo showing the wooden church in the village of Gîrbova, Ocnița district, Republic of Moldova, was ranked 11th in the latest edition (2022) of the Wiki Loves Monuments international competition. From over 150,000 images registered, 337 photos were selected by the jurors of the 36 national competitions. “These are the 15 best images from…

May 4, 2023Aurelian Iftimiu

The thousands of northern-Bukovina Romanians killed by the Soviets at Fântâna Albă were commemorated at Putna Monastery

The hieromonks of Putna Monastery commemorated last Saturday, as they do every year, the thousands of Romanians massacred at Varnița (Fântâna Albă) on April 1, 1941 in the so-called “Romanian Katyn” onslaught. The service was held at the “People’s Golgotha – Fântâna Albă” Memorial Portal, built at Putna Monastery in their memory. The monastery fathers…

Apr 6, 2023Ștefana Totorcea

Byzantine-era church mosaic floor uncovered again in Israel after 40 years

The Israel Antiquities Authority has announced that a church floor decorated with flower mosaics that is 1,500 years old and located east of Ben-Gurion Airport but has remained undiscovered for the past four decades will soon be open to the public. The fine mosaic is part of the archaeological site of Horvat El-Bira, located in…

Mar 28, 2023Aurelian Iftimiu

Vienna: Serbian film director Yelena Popovic prayed with the Romanians of “St Stephen the Great” Parish

On the Sunday of the Holy Cross, Yelena Popovic, author of the “Man of God” film, which presents the life of St. Nektarios of Aegina, prayed at the “St. Stephen the Great” Romanian Orthodox Church in Vienna. At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Father Emanuel Nuțu welcomed the presence of the director in the…

Mar 22, 2023Ștefana Totorcea

Holy Land: 6th-century mosaic discovered intact near Jericho

A 6th-century Byzantine church with elaborate mosaic floors was uncovered near Jericho, the oldest known city in history. The Civil Administration of the West Bank intends to move the building and put it on display in the mosaic museum at the Good Samaritan site. Experts said the church was still being used during the Early…

Feb 3, 2023Ștefana Totorcea

Restoration works reveal vestiges of Princely Academy founded by St Constantine Brâncoveanu in Bucharest

The first phase of a project to consolidate and repair the Palace of the University of Bucharest concluded with discovering the remnants of the institution’s ancestor, the Princely Academy of St. Sava Monastery in Bucharest, in the inner courtyard of the edifice. This was the first higher education school in Wallachia, founded in 1694 by…

Jan 31, 2023Aurelian Iftimiu