The Monastery of Viforâta, dedicated to "the Birth of the Mater of God" and to "The Saint Great Martyr George", is placed at almost 4 km Northern part away from the city of Târgovişte, in the village with the name of "Viforâta". This picturesque Monastery of Viforâta certifies the stability of the Romanian Culture and Orthodox Belief. The name of the monastery is given by the vicissitudes of the old times and the historical events ("vifor" meaning "blizzard").
The oral tradition and some old documents inform us about the existence of an ancient foundation during 1447-1456 that belonged to the Prince Vladislav Basarab. Later, in 1508, it was rebuilt by the Prince Radu Vodă.
However, the first reference to the Monastery of Viforâta dates since 1530 and the first founder is considered to be the Prince Vlad Vodă the V-th (1530-1532), who built up an ordinary church, defended by a high wall.
The Prince Matei Basarab (1632-1654), together with his wife, is considered to be the second founder of the convent, also changing the monastery of monks into a nuns'one, in 1635. In 1713, the third founder, the Saint Prince Martyr Constantin Brâncoveanu, together with his wife Marica, restored the convent. They built up new cells, paved the church with stone tiles, widenned the windows and added an opened porch, bordered by large arches based upon pillars, in "Brâncoveanu" style. In this opened porch, it was painted the scene "The Last Judgement Day" that is conserved till our days.
After the big earthquake of 1802, that caused much damage, the Great Boyar Grigore Brâncoveanu made new consolidations: restoring the painting, building up the Church of "The Saint Apostles Peter and Paul" from the churchyard of the monastery and a famous guest house. This guest house was built up on the purpose of accommodating the pilgrims. It is situated outside the precincts of the monastery. It was restored in 2004 with the special care of His Eminence Dr. Nifon, Archbishop and Mytropolite of Târgovişte.
Because of the damage caused by the earthquakes from 1940 and 1977, the Patriarches: Justinian Marina, Justin Moisescu and Teoctist Arăpaşu, gave their contribution, restoring the holy monastery as it looks today. They added a chapel church dedicated to the Saint Prophet Elijah and a small museum that preserves collections of old icons, old books, embroidery and more other church objects. All the expenses of the restoring work had been covered by the Romanian Patriarchy, taking into account the destination of the monastery at that tine. It was a "Sanatorium", as a settlement of social assistance for the helpless nuns and old priests' widows. (pensioners of the Patriarchy).
After 1993, the House for Pensions and Assistance of the Romanian Patriarchy was abolished and the Monastery of Viforâta remained subordinated to the Ecumenical Patriarchy, its inhabitants sharing its goods and participating all together in its activity. The Church of the Monastery keeps the initial design, with a main nave and two lateral apses.
The altar is semi-circular having a spherical arch. While in the nave and narthex the two cylindrical steeples are based upon a system of arches. The iconostasis is executed by the sculptor Karl Stork, and made of gilded lime wood, in a mixture of Gothic and Byzantine style, in 1864.
One royal outstanding icon is that of Saint Great Martyr George, the Saint patron of the Monastery, donated by Leon Tomşa in 1631, In front of it, there is a little coffin, containing saint relics of the Saint Great Martyr George, the Saint Bishop Haralambie and the Saint Bishop Vlasie.
Outside the church, on the right side, there is the tomb of "the most famous scholar of the church music", the monk priest Macarie.
Now-a-days, here are living 60 nuns, who are guided by the abbess Macaria Mavrodin and sheperded by His Eminence Dr. Nifon, Archbishop and Mytropolite of Târgovişte. The Monastery of Viforâta, a jewel of the clerical art of Romania awaits you to confort your souls with the spiritual beauties which God overflew on this blessed land.
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In the eastern part of Viforâta commune is the Viforâta monastery, a historical monument. Built in the first half of the 16th century on the site of a wooden church by Vlad the Impaled Voivod, it was looted in 1610 by the troops led by Gabriel Báthory and then rebuilt several times. The painting of the monastery was done in 1713, at the initiative of Constantin Brâncoveanu, and the pediment of the church was executed by the sculptor Carol Storck.
Source: Bucharest-Brașov on variants (Ministry of Tourism, 1976)
