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Food and Environment Safety - Journal of Faculty of Food Engineering, Ştefan cel Mare University - Suceava
Year IX, No2 - 2010

CONCERNS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECUMENICAL TOURISM IN
BUCOVINA

Elisabeta BOTEZ1,Constantina SĂLCEANU1, Oana – Viorela NISTOR1, Aura DARABĂ1

1 Bioingineering Department, Food Science and Engineering Faculty, „Dunarea de Jos” University, 111

Domneasca Street, 800201, Galati, Phone/Fax +40 236 460165, Elisabeta.Botez@ugal.ro

Abstract: The purpose of the study was to investigate the possibilities of the ecumenical tourism in
Northern Moldavian monasteries’ area. The monasteries of Putna, Sucevita, Moldovita, Humor and
Voronet are great touristic attractions of the beautiful Bucovina lands and being visited by a large
number of foreign and Romanian tourists. Ecumenical tourism is a matter that already exists for
centuries. It keeps some of the characteristics of pilgrimage, but it has greatly evolved over years.
Today, ecumenical tourism asks for a higher level of culture and conditions for tourists. Thus, if in this
context the tourists could assure their own necessities, they would be able to appreciate all the cultural
objectives as well as the architecture, constructions, values, spiritual connotation and art. There are
only two programs in Romania for this kind of tourism: “Know Bucovina” and “Easter in Bucovina”,
both promoted by ANAT and by the Council of Suceava County.
The accommodation facilities for the monasteries’ visitors have been studied as well as transportation
and advertising points of view in order to enlarge the sizes of the actual tourism which converge to a
higher number of tourists. In order to improve the touristic activity it was developed a ten-question
questionnaire which had been distributed to a sample of 200 tourists.

Key words: pilgrimage, “Know Bucovina”, “Easter in Bucovina”, questionnaire

1. Introduction

Tourism is defined as “the word to
describe the activity of traveling” (Mill,
1990) or “tourism includes any activity
that concerns the temporary movement on
short term of people towards destinations
far from their daily places and habits,
along with the activities developed during
their staying” (Middleton, 1993). Tourism
means hiking or organizing and developing
pleasure and recreation trips. Starting from
these definitions and from the ending of
the word, “-ism”, we can conclude that it is
“an action or process” (Theobald, 1994).
Bucovina is one of the most attractive and
visited touristic regions from Romania.
This area, well known nowadays
worldwide, was awarded in 1975 with the
international prize “Pomme d’Or”,

awarded by the International Federation of
Journalists and Tourism Writers. The
ancient architectural monuments with
internal and external frescoes from this
part of the country were listed by
UNESCO as monuments of universal art.
(http://www.turisminbucovina.ro)
Types of tourism:
a. Cultural and ecumenical tourism: If
we talk about the main touristic motivation
from Bucovina, the starting point is
represented by the unique and wonderful
monasteries, subscribed to UNESCO’s
patrimony: Moldovita, Sucevita, Humor,
Voronet, Putna, Arbore. The patrimony
also enlists the museums, the ethnographic
collection “Ion Gramada” and the black
ceramic of Marginea (pottery: expo sales
show). This type of tourism can be
developed without considering the fact that

Food and Environment Safety - Journal of Faculty of Food Engineering, Ştefan cel Mare University - Suceava
Year IX, No2 - 2010

the region is on the land of Bucovina
monasteries.
- Voronet Monastery
It is an historical architectural monument,
the best representation of the Moldavian
architectural style. It was built between
26.05 – 14.09.1488 by Stephen the Great.
Voronet became famous all around the
world for its exterior paintings: Doomsday,
Ieseu’s Tree, St. John the New’s Prayer for
the dead. Another peculiarity is the usage
of a certain type of blue, so called “blue of
Voronet”. This color was made by locals
including in the composition “lazurit”
paint.
- Humor Monastery
It is a valuable medieval architectural
monument, built in 1530 by the great
chancellor Teodor Bubuiog. The first
element that became famous was the open
veranda with its unique exterior painting.
These were made in 1536 by Toma from
Suceava. The main piece that caught the
eye was “Constantinople Siege”. Red is the
dominant color and the founder’s portrait
is settled inside the crypt.
- Moldovita Monastery
It was built in 1532 and painted in 1537. It
is one of the most valuable medieval
Romanian art monuments from Petru
Rares reign. The monastery appears to be a
fortress composed from the actual church,
the wall surrounding it with three massive
towers on each side and the royal
residency. The painting is of a great artistic
value, similar with the one from Voronet,
being special through the figure
humanization tendency and their
presentation in movement. Green and blue
are combined in a very original way, being
similar with the grass green and the blue
sky.
- Sucevita Monastery
Built at the end of the 16th century, it is the
most fortified monastery complex from
Moldavia. The inner yard was made to
hide Movilesti family and their huge
fortune. In the exterior painting, red and

green are the main colors. The monastery’s
museum shelters embroideries, silver
pieces, popular paintings, manuscripts,
ancient books. These treasures confirm the
cultural role that this monastery had.
- Putna Monastery
The most important monument of Stephen
the Great is situated at 80.5 km from
Pojorata. Its construction started in 1466
but it was burnt in 1484. The renovation
was made by the founder in 1498. The
monastery’s church shelters the graves of
the prince, his two wives and his sons. The
museum holds embroideries, fabrics, silver
pieces, valuable manuscripts, authentic
medieval manuscripts.
- Suceava Citadel
The central part, “Musatin Fort”, belongs
to Petru Musat the1st. He was the one that
gave up using Scheia. Alexander the Good
over-fortified Scheia and the one who
made it legendary was Stephen the Great.
He built the exterior walls, the defensive
ditch and the main entry. Well defended, it
was able to withhold the ottoman siege
from 1476, when Mahomed the Second
had to admit himself defeated.
(http://www.romanianmonasteries.org/ro/b
ucovina)
b. The hunting tourism
Its destination is for hunters and fishermen.
There is a rich hunting fund: bears, boars,
mountain and birch rooster, stags and
dears, rabbits etc. Also, the fishing fund
has its resources: trout, dace, barbell,
boisten. The main species from the
mountain area is the Carpathian stag.
c. Hiking – it has as an advantage:
beautiful marked routes (Rarau –
Giumalau, Calimani, Rodnei etc.). It
reminds us of the old “Tartars’ Way” that
ends in Carlibaba. These routes can be run
by foot or riding a local’s horse.
d. Recreation tourism has all the means
to be put in practice, considering the
positive effects of the climate and the
beautiful scenery.

Food and Environment Safety - Journal of Faculty of Food Engineering, Ştefan cel Mare University - Suceava
Year IX, No2 - 2010

e. Pleasure tourism: river rafting,
paragliding, paintball, mountain biking and
climbing, archery, riding classes, long
walks through the mountains and
practicing winter sports.
The purpose of the study was to investigate
the possibilities of the ecumenical tourism
in Northern Moldavian monasteries’ area.

2. Materials and methods:
2.1. Materials

- Visiting Bucovina monasteries.
- Collecting data from the talks with the

monks.
- Interviewing the tourists.
- A questionnaire regarding the

infrastructure quality and the local
ecumenical tourism. The questionnaire
was made of 10 items, multiple
choices.

The questionnaire
1. Which is the best known ecumenical
area from Romania?
a) Moldova b) Bucovina c)
Dobrogea d) Muntenia
2. Would you be interested in the
ecumenical tourism in Romania?
a) Yes b) No c)
May be d) I don’t know
3. What do you think would be the main
obstacles for a tourist not to visit Bucovina
monasteries?
a) The lack of transportation
b) The lack of accommodation place into
the monasteries or in the neighborhood
c) The impossibility of ensuring a meal
during the day
4. Would you like to receive a meal during
the monasteries visiting?
a) Yes b) No c)
May be d) I don’t know
5. Would you be excited that the offered
meal to contain a specific monk menu?
a) Yes b) No c)
May be d) I don’t know
6. Would you like to be accommodated to
the monasteries?

a) Yes b) No c)
May be d) I don’t know
7. What measures should ANAT take?
a) The organization of a touristic tour of
the monasteries
b) The assuring of the roads’ infrastructure
to the monasteries gates
c) The monasteries and the places of
worship promotion
8. Which do you think is the efficient
method to promote the monasteries?
a) By mass-media
b) By churches
c) By authorities - from national and
international information programs
d) By tourism agencies
9. How do you think Bucovina monasteries
should improve their facilities?
a) By EU funds
b) By the City Councils
c) By the monasteries own funds
d) From sponsorships
10. Would it be good for the monasteries to
apply to European funds in order to
improve their facilities?
a) Yes b) No c)
May be d) I don’t know

2.2. Methods

- Graphical data interpretation – pie

graphics.
- SWOT analysis based on the

comparison between the data collected
on the spot and the solutions adopted
for improving ecumenical tourism.

SWOT analysis is the most important
managerial technique used for comparing
and solving the improvement strategies of
a certain situation. The analysis starts with
enumerating strong and weak points
concerning the actual state of the objective.
SWOT is an acronym, the letters coming
from:
Strengths: strong points of the location,
the resources it had, its advantages,
distinctive components of the personnel,
managerial activities.

Food and Environment Safety - Journal of Faculty of Food Engineering, Ştefan cel Mare University - Suceava
Year IX, No2 - 2010

Weaknesses: weak points, vulnerable
areas, poor resources.
Opportunities: the ways to improve the
purpose, ways to exploit the strengths and
eliminate the weaknesses.
Threats: points of danger for achieving the
goal, negative aspects coming from faulty
resource management, generally, any type
of risk.

3. Results and discussion
3.1. Questionnaire graphic

interpretation:

We interviewed a number of 200 persons,
75% women and 25% men. From these,
45% were undergraduates, 40% graduates,
10% postgraduates and 5% had
gymnasium studies.
The interview had been attained at
Sucevita and Voronet monasteries and the
assigned time for this purpose was 3 days.
The interpretation of the principal
questions from the questionnaire is
presented in the following graphics, as the
area with the highest ecumenical potential
is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1 The area with the highest ecumenical
potential

The conclusion was that 93,33% from the
interviewed people indicated Bucovina as
the area with the highest ecumenical
potential, 21,11% Moldavia, 1,11%
Dobrogea and 1,11% Muntenia.
The interest for the ecumenical tourism is
remarked in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Interest for ecumenical tourism

Concerning the interest for ecumenical
tourism, 80% answered “Yes”, 8,88%
“Maybe”, 5,55% “I don’t know” and only
2,22% said “No”.
The Figure 3 presents the possible
obstacles in monastery visiting.

What do you think would be the main obstacles for a
tourist not to visit Bucovina monasteries?

Lack of transportation

Lack of accomodation

Not having a meal
insured during the visit

Figure 3 Possible obstacles in monastery visiting

At this question, 85.55% considered that
the biggest problem for the ecumenical
tourism in Bucovina is the lack of means
of transportation. At present, the access is
possible only by car. The second problem
for 40% of the tourists is the lack of
accommodation inside the monasteries
(only Putna disposes of 120 places for
accommodation). Only 5.55% considered
that not insuring one meal per day when
visiting a monastery is a problem.
When they had to choose between a meal
during the visit and accommodation,
55.55% chose the meal and 63.33% chose
the accommodation.
Figure 4 presents the possible measures

The area with the biggest ecumenical
potential

Bucovina

Moldova

Dobrogea

Muntenia

Would you be interested in the ecumenical
tourism in Romania?

Yes

May be

I don't know

Food and Environment Safety - Journal of Faculty of Food Engineering, Ştefan cel Mare University - Suceava
Year IX, No2 - 2010

that have to be taken by ANAT for the
development of Bucovina ecumenical
tourism.

Figure 4 Measures that have to be taken by
ANAT

Concerning the measures that ANAT has to
take, 56,66% thought that there should be
some funds allocated for the infrastructure,
48,88% considered that the promotion of
the monasteries is necessary and 15,55%
would organize a tour of the monasteries.
At the last question, 63,33% answered that
mass-media advertising would be the most
efficient, 38,88% chose promoting through
national/international information
programs, 31,11% would promote only
inside the churches and 5,55% would use
tourism agencies.
The funds related to the improving of the
accommodation inside the monasteries are
represented in Figure 5.

Figure 5 Improving accommodation inside
monasteries

From the interviewed people 64,44%
considered that the monasteries from
Bucovina should insure themselves with
funds for developing ecumenical tourism,
European funds, 52,22% chose

sponsorships, 21,11% public money given
by the authorities and only 3,33% chose
monasteries’ own funds.
The possibility of applying for European
funds/ European grants is the subject of
Figure 6.

Figure 6 The possibility of applying for
European funds/ European grants

When answering about Bucovina
monasteries applying for European funds,
the interviewed people 56,66% said “Yes”,
25,55% “Maybe”, 12,22% “I don’t know”
and 2,22% thought that there is no need of
European funds.

4. Conclusions

Applying SWOT analysis demonstrated its
efficiency in establishing the common
interest of sustainable development
regarding the ecumenical tourism in
Bucovina. This analysis has conclusive
results when having a significant number
of subjects with different interests and
different ways of achieving the final goal.
The main criterion is that all of them have
to participate at the follow up and
implementing possible solutions.
From the visit and the talks with the
monasteries’ management, it has been
concluded that their involvement in
promoting and improving the conditions is
minimal.
The monks consider that promoting the
monasteries is not a task for them to do.

How do you think Bucovina monasteries should
improve their facilities?

Using European funds

With the help of City
Council

Using monasteries
funds

From sponsorships

Would it be good for the monasteries to
apply to European funds in order to

improve their facilities?

Yes

May be

I don't know

What measures should ANAT takes?

Organizing a monasteries'
tour
Insuring transportation

Promoting the monasteries

Food and Environment Safety - Journal of Faculty of Food Engineering, Ştefan cel Mare University - Suceava
Year IX, No2 - 2010

Table 1
SWOT analysis interpretation

STRENGHTS WEAKNESSES
- receiving ‘Pomme d’Or’ international award in
1975, given by the International Federation of
Journalists and Tourism Writers
- having the possibility to visit unique places
(Putna, Sucevita, Moldovita, Humor, Voronet)
- practicing hunting, recreation and pleasure
tourism as well as hiking
- the possibility of visiting any time of the year
- history and unique customs
- the ‘1000 churches’
- memorial houses and museums

- reduced number of national/international
information programs
- defective promotion of the monasteries
- lack of transportation
- lack of accommodation inside the monasteries
(excepting Putna)
- not having a meal included during the visit
- limited possibilities of applying for European
funds

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
- restoring historical monuments, especially the
monasteries
- encouraging new forms of tourism (e.g.:
scientific, adventure etc.)
- PHARE funds
- including agro-touristic mansions in the national
network of tourism agencies
- developing some resorts: Campulung
Moldovenesc, Cacica, Botus (ethnographical
resort)
- expansions and renovation of infrastructure

- no trademark for ‘Bucovina’ as a brand
- defacement of art and architecture monuments
- faulty collaboration between local councils

Analyzing the present situation, it has been
discovered that Arbore Church and Voronet
Monastery can not be the beneficiaries of a
rehabilitation program from PHARE
funds, because of the neglect of the City
Council and Suceava and Radauti
Archiepiscopate.
A PHARE program, started in 2003,
worthing 1,5 € millions, having as main
beneficiary Suceava City Council, should
have already modernized 13 monasteries
and churches so far, some of them
belonging to UNESCO patrimony. This
project was a failure because of the
common neglect.
Although the solutions for reviving the
ecumenical tourism are pretty complicated
at first sight, they can be solved from a
source of European funding, Regio
Projects, Espon Projects etc.
(http://www.afaceripublice.ro/investigatie)

5. References
1.http://www.romanianmonasteries.org/ro/bucovina
2.http://www.turismbucovina.ro/ghid%20bucovinea
n.htm

3. http://www.turisminbucovina.ro
4.http://www.scritube.com/geografie/turism/ETIM
OLOGIA-CUVANTULUI-
ECOTURIS133522615.php
5. S.C.E., SARINO, Tourism Principles, quote
(Mill, 1990), (Middleton, 1993), 2009
6. T., Filipas, Analiza strategica SWOT a unei
intreprinderi/organizatii, 2005
7. C., Băbăiţă, Impactul factorilor organizaþionali
asupra satisfacþiei consumatorului de servicii
turistice, 2006
8. Agenţia de monitorizare a presei – Active Watch,
Transparenţa fondurilor europene în
România – Studiu de caz, 2009
9. http://www.afaceripublice.ro/investigatie
10. Commission of the European Communities,
Basic orientations for the sustainability of European
tourism, Communication from the Commission,
Brussels, 2003
11. Commission of the European Communities, A
renewed EU Tourism Policy: Towards a stronger
partnership for European Tourism, Communication
from the Commission, Brussels, 2006
12. A., Holden, Environment and Tourism,
Routledge, London, 2000
13. A., Ispas, Imaginea României ca destinaţie
turistică, în Revista Convorbiri Economice, nr.
4/aprilie 2007, p.48-53.
14. www.wto, Tourism Vision 2020
15. www.mturism.ro/studii/studii internaţionale