 Golia Monastery was founded by the great boyar Ioan Golia in 1564. The church was rebuilt on a greater scale by Prince Vasile Lupu between 1650 -1653 and finished by his son, Stefanita. The church is made of white stone. The Golia tower is 30 m high. The painting restored for several times, preserves few original frescoes. Damaged during the fires in 1687, 1732, 1822 and seriously affected by an earthquake in 1738 the monastery’s church underwent numerous restora  tions. In 1786, because the princely courts were burnt, Golia became metropolitan residence and Prince Gavriil Calimachi moved here and spent the last years of his life. Gone to ruin after the secularization (1863), the monastery was closed between 1900 -1947, until 1992, when it eventually became a missionary monastery again. See this link for more historical details. When seen from the outside, this place gives me the impression of separation. Keeping those outside where they are, where those inside remain within the monastery's womb. That is why I simply needed to go in and take some more photos of it (you can see them all here). Although it looks old and conservative, the monastery has one secret that has just been revealed to the world. It is home to a hacker-monk. Yes, that is right, a computer expert monk. Serafim Pantea spends about 10 hours a day working with computers and has been using these machines for over 24 years. Promoter of Linux and Open Source software, this very unique monk believes a hacker to be a person that craves for knowledge, someone who simply wants to learn more of technology and of how things work. His full story here, in Romanian only unfortunately.
Crossposted at Lighit Within
Tags: Golia, Golia Monastery, Iasi, Serafim Pantea, Hacking, Open Source
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there is something timeless about these buildings no?
Whenever i look at buildings and structures of long ago i get a sort of cold shiver running through me, knowing that a few hundred years before, someone was looking at the same thing i see today:)
dont know if that sounds crazy but thats the way i feel.
Great blog Alina:)
take care