STEPHEN THE GREAT AND HOLY COMMEMORATION/ The Elevation of the Holy Cross Church of Volovat

Considered a "testament in stone" of Stephen the Great, the church of Volovat is the penultimate foundation of the Moldavian ruler.

Built on the site of a wooden church erected by Bogdan the Founder between 1500 and 1502, at a time when the Moldavian religious architecture blossomed, the church is conspicuous for an archaic architecture characteristic of the Musat dynasty, dating back to the 14th century, with semi-cylindrical vaults and double arches. Legend has it that the church was erected on the burial place of Moldavia's first ruler Dragos.

July 2 marks the commemoration of 510 years since the death of Moldovan ruler Stephen the Great (ruling between 1457-1504), one of the most important Romanian figures of the Middle Ages. On June 20, 1992, he was sanctified by the Romanian Orthodox Church as Pious Voivode Stephen the Great and Holy. AGERPRES