Object

Description

The church is placed on a hill, in a very picturesque place. The road to the church can be both travelled by car or by foot. This church – historical monument – has the walls made of wood and the roof made of shingles. In the church backyard, there is the burial feast house, the bell tower being built of wood and covered with metallic sheet. The wood church of Rădășeni extends over 204 square meters, of the total of 3.433 square meters the church yard has."Saint Mercurie and Saint Ecaterina" Church was founded by Tomșa-Vodă between 1611 and 1622, at Rădășeni. With its old history, even during the times of the prince Stephen Tomșa, the church still brings peace and blessing as well as the pride of being a local. At the beginning of the XVIIth century, on the throne of Moldavia gets the prince Stephen Tomșa, who, at the request of the people, gave to the locals a piece of land and built them a church. The tradition of the place says that Stephen Tomșa studied in Rădășeni, where he spent a part of his childhood. Being spiritually connected to these lands, when he became a prince, he built a church in Rădășeni, but not before declaring the village a ”princely village”. A proof of the fact that the church was founded by Stephen Tomșa is also a little gold spoon, which is today at Neamț Monastery, bearing the following inscription: ”and I gave it in order to pray for us in the Church of Rădășeni, of the Great Martyr Mercurie. I Stephen Vv. Tomisevici (Tomșa) 1621-1623”. The church was built by anonymous masters, out of wood, on a stone foundation, sometimes undergoing changes which had changed also its external appearance. The porch was added in the year 1990. It seems that the painting was made by masters led by Iulian the Hieromonk, in 1876, the chandelier dating from the same year. The current painting on the nave dome and the sanctuary dates back to 1935-1938 and was performed by the painters Victor Gallin and Stephen Streinu from Botoșani. Among the iconographic themes, the votive picture draws a special attention, depicting, on the south wall, the voivode Stephen Tomșa the IInd and Elena Doamna, holding the church’s tabernacle in their hands. Starting with the year 1996, for 8 years, the church underwent major repairs, entering an ample process of restoration in an attempt to bring it back to its initial state and to release it from all the elements which affected its initial style. The restoration affected all the elements of the church, starting with the foundation and ending with the roof. The painting was cleaned from the smoke and the first layer of painting, of a remarkable beauty, was brought to life.