ARHIVELE OLTENIEI - Universitatea din Craiova

126Nicolae Vîlvoihave been kept, most of which are stored in the National Archives in Bucharest.Manuscript no. 453, f. 110, dated 21 st February 1779, mentions that “the holymonastery of Jitianu had estate documents and as a result of the uprising, thesewere lost in the cave of Bistriţa monastery” 8 . Other documents were taken bythe monks from St. Pavel monastery on Mount Athos, whom the establishmentin Oltenia had been dedicated to 9 . As stated in the inscription of the church andfrom information dating back to 1701, the construction of the monastery wasfinished by Petre Obedeanu, who was also one of its founders. The churchunderwent repairing in 1813 and 1853, when the interior painting was done.The 1858 inventory mentions that the monastery is surrounded by brickconstructions 10 . Consequently the monastery is abandoned by the Mount Athosmonks in 1864, and was closed in 1914 11 . After the restoration work, undertakenbetween1928-1930 under the supervision of the Historic MonumentsCommission, nuns settled down here.Out of the ensemble that existed back in the XVII th century, only St.Dimitrie church and the cellars of the abbot houses have survived. Inside someof the rooms of the tall goundfloor, rehabilitated in 1936, the religious artcollection of the Holy Archiepiscopal Church of Craiova has been set up 12 .Interesting through the richness, originality and diversity of its items, thediocesan collection of religious art objects is the result of a constant work ofidentification, gathering, conservation and display initiated, many years ago, bythe holy Metropolitan Firmilian and continued by the all-holy MetropolitanTeoctist (patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox church) and by Nestor, all-holyMetropolitan of Oltenia and Archbishop of Craiova.The museum collection of the Jitianu monastery especially illustrates thelate stages in the evolution of Romanian classical art – XVIII th and XIX thcenturies. It comprises objects that represent the main genres of Romanianancient art: icons painted on wood, wood sculptures (icons, doors, iconostases,furniture), silverware (religious objects and jewelry), glass icons, religiousobjects, old books and stone crosses, most of them coming from ancient regionsof historic and artistic traditions in Oltenia and from well-known centres of richwell-organised Christian orthodox life.8 T.G. Bulat, Ştiri nouă despre mănstirea Jitianu – Dolj, in „Mitropolia Olteniei”, 1967,nr. 5-6, p.432.9 Ibidem. Also see Şt. O. Greceanu, Genealogiile documentate ale familiilor boiereşti, I.p.100.10 Tereza Sinigalia, Repertoriul architecturii în Ţara Românească 1600-1680, Vol. I,Bucureşti, Editura Vremea, 2002, p.222-223.11 INMI Archives, monument chart. In 1902, the constructions surrounding themonastery were demolished, and the bricks were used to build a barracks. Apud Tereza Sinigalia,op. cit., p.223.12 Teodora Voinescu, Comori de artă bisericească. Colecţia Arhiepiscopiei Craiovei dela mănăstirea Jitianu – Craiova, Craiova, Editura Arhiepiscopiei Craiovei, 1980.