Unique Churches - The Written Stone Monastery (Manastirea Piatra Scrisa), Romania

The Written Stone Monastery (Manastirea Piatra Scrisa), Romania

The history of the Written Stone Hermitage is rooted in 1872, when a Miraculous Icon that represents the Holy Trinity is found. In 1965 specialists from Timisoara conclude that the icon dates from XVII-XVIII centuries. Above the Icon is the Caransebes-Orsova Railway, built in the 19th century, which had to be diverted from its original route in order to preserve the image. The Icon of the Trinity remained in its original form although there have been numerous attempts to erase and repainted it. The Icon shows the “New Testament” Trinity, that is, Jesus Christ holding the Cross seated opposite the Father as an old man, and between Them the Holy Spirit depicted as a dove.

Holy Trinity Icon

An Austro-Hungarian military map of 1788 labels the site as “Trinity Rock”, suggesting the icon was already painted onto the cliff-side by that date. In 1929, Vasile Dragomir and his wife, Anna, believers from Armenis, decided to build a Holy Church, the Holy Trinity Icon forming its vault, in memory of their deceased daughter; a year later the Bishop of Caransebes allowed a small house to also be built, to home a few monastic’s.