 |
Matthew Patay's
Note of the Month
September 2004
|
|
Map and flag images provided by Graphic Maps
This month's featured note
is from the country of Moldova.
The denomination is 10 Lei and the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money
(SCWPM) Number is P-10.
The note is dated 1998.
(front)
The banknote is red-brown on pale blue and gold under print.
King Stephen The Great (1457-1504) is at left.
----------
The following information
was obtained from:
The Free Dictionary Dot Com
King
Ştefan cel Mare (Stephen The Great)
(1457-1504)
Ştefan cel Mare (Stephen the Great) was a voivod (prince) of Moldavia (1457-1504), who won renown in Europe for his long resistance against the Ottoman Empire.
With the help of the Wallachian prince Vlad III the Impaler, Ştefan secured the throne of Moldavia in 1457. Menaced by powerful neighbours, he successfully repulsed an invasion by Hungary in 1467, and invaded Wallachia in 1471, which had by then succumbed to Turkish vassalage.
When the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II launched an attack on Moldavia, Stephen defeated the invaders near Vaslui in 1475. Stephen was defeated at Războieni (Valea Alba) next year, but the Turks had to retreat after they failed to take any important fortress. His search for European assistance against the Turks had little success, but his determination "to cut off the pagan's right hand" won him the acclaim of Pope Sixtus IV as "Christ's Athlete".
After 1484 Ştefan had to contend not only with new Turkish onslaughts but also with Polish and Hungarian designs on Moldavian independence. Finally in 1503 he concluded with Sultan Beyazid II a treaty that preserved Moldavian independence, at the cost of an annual tribute to the Turks.
Though it was marked by continual strife, Ştefan's long reign nonetheless brought considerable cultural development; no less than 44 churches and monasteries were erected by Ştefan himself, some of which are now part of UNESCO's World Heritage.
----------
(back)
Monastery at Hirjauca is at center.
The following information
was obtained from:
WWW.AllMoldova.Com
Hirjauca Ascension monastery is located in Calarasi district, about 70 km to the northwest of Chisinau. Christians who escaped from Tatars built it in 1740. According to a version, it was founded by the elder Feoctist and two monks of a big Romanian Neamts monastery on the money of a local nobleman.
On all sides, except the northern one, the monastery is protected by the hillsides. Despite this, during the Tatar invasion all the wooden constructions (churches and monk cells) were destroyed, and the monastery was restored only in the middle of the 19 th century. Monk cells and the winter church of St. Spiridon (1836) were rebuilt first, then, in 1848 Ascension Church was erected. The rest of constructions are agglomerated around it.
Formerly this monastic complex included terrace garden with ponds, pavilions, fountains and vineyards, which attracted lots of visitors. Unfortunately, the garden was not preserved in its original shape, but the forest surrounding the monastery today impresses a lot and, undoubtedly, is worse visiting.
Besides this, on the monastery's territory there is located the “Spring of youth”, famous for its healing characteristics.
In soviet times monastery was transformed into a big sanatorium, its buildings now being used as storehouses. In 1993 complex was restituted to the church, and in 1995 it has become an active monastery.
Address: Moldova, 279000, Calarasi district, v. Hirjauca.
----------
For more information about Moldova visit:
----------
----------
Previous Note of the Month Pages: