By Jelena Bogdanović | Iowa State University

Description

Cozia is an architecturally and culturally important monastic complex situated in the Romanian principality of Wallachia. Cozia monastery and its katholikon (main church) dedicated to the Holy Trinity (1387–91) were established by Voivode (Prince) Mircea I of Wallachia (r. 1386–95 and 1397–1418). Set along the Olt River, Cozia retains segments of the original 14th century fortified monastic walls. Centrally located within the monastic enclosure is the iconic Church of the Holy Trinity. This sizable and lavishly designed structure is a major example of medieval Wallachian architecture. Built in recognizably Byzantine building technique that employs alternating courses of stone and brick, the monumentality of this structure is achieved through the sophisticated use of attenuated vertical proportions, extensive mural cycles on the interior, and delicately carved stone architectural sculpture on the exterior. The church at Cozia houses the tomb of its founder, Mircea I. It is considered the prototype for dynastic Wallachian triconch churches.

The monastery was rebuilt and enlarged several times over its long history. Even when Wallachia was an Ottoman tributary state, its rulers maintained the monastery. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the paintings were restored, and additional structures and chapels built. Among remarkable features of the monastery are the two domed chapels at the corners of the eastern fortification walls overlooking the river Olt, as well as Bolniţa (“hospital” / “hospice”), the triconch chapel located on a hill on the opposite side of the monastery. All three mentioned chapels, with emblematic domes set high on attenuated drums, offer today recognizably neo-Byzantine and Brancovean styles; the latter currently understood as an architectural synthesis of local, Byzantine, late Renaissance, and Baroque stylistic features. The monastery suffered destruction and neglect, especially during World War I and its aftermath, and had been heavily renovated between the 1950s and 1980s.

Significance

Cozia monastery with its katholikon of the Holy Trinity (1387–91) were established by Mircea I, also known as Mircea the Elder or Mircea the Great, considered one of the greatest rulers of his time. During his thirty-year reign, medieval Wallachia reached its greatest territorial expanse, socio-political stability, and gained relative independence from the Ottoman Empire. A remarkable patron of architecture and the arts, with the establishment of Cozia monastery Mircea I also founded an important cultural center and monastic school that was operational by 1415.

Despite major rebuilding projects over its turbulent history, Cozia monastery remains architecturally and culturally significant. Subtly incorporated into the picturesque landscape along the Olt River, Cozia is an extraordinary example of sophisticated understanding of architecture as both built and unbuilt environment. The segments of the original 14th century massive fortifications support the tall monastery walls, framed by the emblematic chapels with Byzantine-inspired domes set high on attenuated drums. This memorable image of both stunning natural landscape and long-lasting legacy of Byzantine architecture beyond its territorial domains, reveal Cozia as a monument of greatest importance for Romanian cultural history.

Centrally located within the monastic enclosure is the Church of the Holy Trinity, consecrated on May 18, 1388. This lavishly designed triconch structure is a major example of medieval Wallachian architecture. As a mausoleum for Mircea I, it is likewise considered the prototype for dynastic Wallachian churches. Constructed in recognizably Byzantine building techniques with alternating courses of stone and brick, the monumentality of the structure is achieved through the sophisticated use of attenuated vertical proportions, extensive mural cycles on the interior originally painted in 1390, and some still preserved, as well as delicately carved stone architectural sculpture on the exterior.

The monastery and its katholikon have been renovated and enlarged several times since the 14th century In 1517, Voivode Neagoe Basarab (r. 1512–21) restored paintings in the main church and built the fountain with his name inscribed within. Voivode Petru of Argeș (1535–45), also known as Radu Paisie, established the triconch chapel dedicated to the Holy Apostles, known as Bolniţa (“hospital” / “hospice”). The domed chapel dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God was built in the southeast corner of the monastery walls in 1583. Wallachian princes, Șerban Cantacuzino (r. 1678–88) and his nephew Constantin Brâncoveanu (r. 1688–1714), additionally restored the paintings in the main church, refurbished monastic cells, and added a new fountain, a porch in front of the main church, a chapel within the monastic walls dedicated to All Saints (dated to 1710–11), as well as a watch tower. These later structures are done in the so-called “Brâncovenesc (Brancovean)” style – a Romanian style of architecture that offers a synthesis of local, Byzantine, late Renaissance, and Baroque formal stylistic features.

The question of Byzantine precedents in the architecture of Cozia is relevant from both disciplinary and methodological perspectives. In 1911, the Romanian civil engineer, architect, and art historian, Gheorghe Balş published a book that examined Serbian-Romanian connections in medieval architecture, and in 1930 an article that explicitly proposed that Serbian medieval architecture was the direct source of inspiration for medieval architecture in Romania. In 1933, the French Byzantinist Gabriel Millet published the current paradigm that Prince Mircea I built Cozia after contemporaneous Serbian royal churches, and in particular, the churches established by Prince Stefan Lazar Hrebeljanović of Serbia (r. 1370–89). Prince Lazar’s court church, the church dedicated to the Holy Protomartyr Stephen in Kruševac, also known as Lazarica, as well as his burial church dedicated to the Ascension of Christ in the fortified monastery of Ravanica, were both built around 1375–78. Like Cozia, studied as the prototype of dynastic Wallachian churches, the two Serbian churches are considered the prototypes of the Morava architectural group, so named because they were built in the Morava valley. All together, these three churches display undeniable architectural similarities – triconch architectural plans, recognizable Byzantine tectonics of the domed church done in stone and brick with lavish monumental decoration, as well as attenuated proportions and hierarchical clustering of the volumes.

The extreme architectural and spatial resemblances between the churches in Cozia in Wallachia, and Lazarica in Serbia, indicate potentially the same builder(s), who may have used similar architectural designs for the two churches. Recently, it has been shown that Cozia is a Wallachian royal mausoleum and a peculiar type of “court” church. Larger than the Lazarica church, in its size approaching the katholikon at Ravanica, with regard to the function, the Cozia katholikon emerges as a hybrid of a court and a mausoleum church. Cozia and Ravanica also share the concept of a fortified monastery. Additionally, they share notions about urbanity outside of the city as being the result of a monastic architecture of diverse and multifunctional structures.

Serbian-Romanian architectural connections are supported by the studies of architectural historians Cyril Mango and Slobodan Ćurčić. They acknowledged that the Athonite monk by the name of Nikodemos, originally from Prilep, participated in the building of Cozia monastery. Today, the role of monks for the geographically widespread exchange of ideas and concepts about architectural designs is attested. It is historically relevant that Cozia itself was a major monastic and cultural hub in medieval Wallachia and the wider region.

By enlarging the discussion about the territorial and chronological domains of triconch churches built by Serbian and Wallachian nobility between ca. 1350s and 1550s – including those in the territories of Mount Athos and their relationship to similar churches in Byzantine Greece – a more robust geographical and temporal exchange of architectural principles and practices in the development of Byzantine and post-Byzantine architecture have also been proposed. Such methodological frameworks and expanded chronology for studying Byzantine architecture and continual use of its design principles allow for a more holistic understanding of Cozia’s architecture. Often neglected in the architectural discussions that focus on the older katholikon instead, Bolniţa, the chapel at Cozia can be studied within triconch architectural typology and as a valid example within a broader history of Byzantine architecture. Similarly, the church and its complex have the potential to enrich studies of Brancovean religious architecture more broadly.

Further Reading

Balş, Georges. “Influence du plan serbe sur le plan des églises roumaines.” In Les balkans [L'art byzantin chez les slaves]: premier recueil dedie a la memoire de Theodore Uspenskij, 277–294. Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1930.

This study proposes the influence of Serbian architectural plans on the design of Romanian medieval churches.

Bogdanović, Jelena. “Triconch Churches Sponsored by Serbian and Wallachian Nobility.” In Byzantium in Eastern European Visual Culture in the Late Middle Ages, edited by M. A. Rossi and A. I. Sullivan, 167–199. Leiden: Brill, 2020.

This chapter offers an analysis of architecture of triconch churches built by Serbian and Wallachian nobility within and beyond the territories of their domains. It highlights robust geographical and temporal exchanges of architectural principles and practices in the development of Byzantine and post-Byzantine architecture.

Davidescu, Mişu. Mănăstirea Cozia. Bucharest: Editura Meridiane, 1968.

This is a general text on the Monastery of Cozia, written in Romanian.

Millet, Gabriel. “Cozia et les églises serbes de la Morava.” In Mélanges offerts à M. Nicolas Iorga par ses amis de France et des pays de langue française, edited by Nicolae Iorga, 827–856. Paris: J. Gamber, 1933.

This study offers a discussion of Serbian-Wallachian connections in the development of triconch churches. Particular emphasis is placed on Cozia Monastery as the result of influences of the so-called Morava churches in medieval Serbia, which Millet situated as the last phase of Byzantine architectural developments.

Nickel, Heinrich L. Medieval Architecture in Eastern Europe. New York: Holmes and Meier, 1983.

This study positions Cozia within the larger context of medieval architecture in Eastern Europe. (esp. pp. 83–120)

Vaida, Gamaliil. The Monastery of Cozia: In the Past and Nowadays. Câlimânesti-Vîlcea: Stâretia Mînâstirii Cozia, 1977.

This is a general text on the Monastery of Cozia, written in English.