Not many of us know that Romania, an eastern European country is full of historical sites. There are hundreds of churches and monasteries dated from 14th century, some of them truly impressive through simplicity and building techniques.

One wood monastery is a Romanian church built from one single oak. Located in Frincesti, a small town about 15 miles from the city of Ramnicu Valcea, this monastery has an amazing story. In the early 16th century, a monk discovered a hollowed old oak tree that has a carved icon of the Virgin Mary. Then he heard a voice that guided him to build the church from the tree’s body. The story of this church could be a legend since there are some other tales emerged as the origin of the monastery saying that the icon has been known to be crafted by a Greek craftsman. Many of the Romanian people still inclined to believe the monk’s story.

Visiting the monastery we could see is a tiny and fairly unimpressive but thinking that was built from one oak can be considered a true piece of art.

Currently, the monastery is taken care by nuns who dedicated their lives to protect and maintain the holy site.

The monastery is declared a historical monument under the name of “Mănăstirea Dintr-un Lemn.”

This place is one of the unknown spiritual places, but the peacefulness and the serenity of the nature surrounding the church give the traveler tranquility and spiritual awareness.