Probota Monastery, code SV-II-a-A-05592. A historical monument of international value dedicated to St. Nicholas, included in 1993 on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, in the group of Painted Churches in Northern Moldavia.
Located in Probota – formerly called Pobrata, which now belongs to the town of Dolhasca (32 km from Fălticeni and 49 km from Suceava), the church of the monastery was founded in 1530 by voivode Petru Rareș.
The painting of the church was executed in 1532, being considered by the art historian I.D. Stefanescu as an expression of “the most brilliant monumental painting” in northern Moldavia. Unfortunately, most of the exterior painting is degraded.
There is a unique iconographic element in the altar until now in an orthodox church: the sacrifice of Jesus during the proscomidia ceremony (gr. Proskomedia), contemplated by 14 hierarchs and 2 deacons from the first Christian centuries.
This ritual sacrifice is performed in the painting of Probota by St. John Chrysostom. During the proscomidia, it is believed that the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ through the descent of the Holy Spirit. From the point of view of Orthodox theology, however, the representation of the Christ sacrifice at Probota is problematic.
