Stephen the Great, Prince of Moldavia, established a number of Romanian Orthodox churches and monasteries as ktitor. The tradition that he built one after every battle he won is untrue, but he did build certain ones in honor of victories and in memory of his fallen soldiers. Based on the carved inscriptions placed contemporaneously to his reign, Stephen built the following churches, plus an additional two that were added later based on local tradition, without indicating the date of construction. He almost certainly established additional churches (at least seven others are attributed to him), but these are the ones for which there is clear documentation.
Church | Location | Year built | Photo |
Dormition of the Theotokos Church, Putna Monastery | Putna | 1466-1469 | |
St. Procopius | Milișăuți | 1487 (destroyed 1917) | |
St. Nicholas | Kiliya, Ukraine | 1482 | |
Holy Cross | Pătrăuți | 1487 | |
St. Elias | Sfântu Ilie | 1488 | |
St. George Church, Voroneț Monastery | Gura Humorului | 1488 | |
Beheading of St. John the Baptist | Vaslui | 1490 | |
St. Nicholas | Iași | 1491-1492 | |
St. George | Hârlău | 1492 | |
Dormition of the Theotokos | Borzești | 1493-1494 | |
Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral | Huși | 1495 | |
St. Nicholas | Dorohoi | 1495 | |
St. Nicholas Church, Popăuți Monastery | Botoșani | 1496 | |
Holy Archangel Michael Church, Războieni Monastery | Războieni | 1496 | |
Nativity of the Theotokos Church, Tazlău Monastery | Tazlău | 1496-1497 | |
Ascension of the Lord Church, Neamț Monastery | Vânători-Neamț | 1497 | |
Nativity of St. John the Baptist | Piatra Neamț | 1497-1498 | |
St. John the New chapel and bell tower, Bistrița Monastery | Bistrița, Neamț | 1498 | |
St. John (bell tower) | Piatra Neamț | 1499 | |
Elevation of the Holy Cross | Volovăț | 1500-1502 | |
Descent of the Holy Spirit Church, Dobrovăț Monastery | Dobrovăț | 1503-1504 | |
Beheading of St. John the Baptist | Reuseni | 1503-1504 | |
St. Parascheva | Râmnicu Sărat | 1704 (inscription) | |
Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel | Scânteia | 1846 (inscription) | |
- (in Romanian) Biserici și mănăstiri at the Ștefan cel Mare site of Putna Monastery; accessed October 14, 2012