Monasteries of Buzău County, Romania (fifteenth–twenty-first centuries)

Abstract

<p>The aim of this project is to create a map at the scale of 1:275 000 of all Christian Orthodox monasteries that existed between the fifteenth and twentieth centuries, in the county of Buzău, Romania. This area has been one of the biggest centers of Orthodox monasticism in the country, in a time when monasteries were the main centers of culture, science and education. This paper describes how the map was created, while also explaining its purpose and the challenges that emerge in mapping the monasticism and its basic features. The project which underpins the map is unique because it integrates and synthesizes results from historical–geographical studies, which have not yet been depicted cartographically. The map, initially begun in 2012, is based on a large amount of information gathered from a number of collections of historical documents, which were analyzed, validated and complemented in several field campaigns carried out between 2008 and 2015. The procedure, performed with difficulty because of numerous gaps in historical sources and few archaeological evidence, intends to represent a cartographic model for illustrating a phenomenon that otherwise sought to avoid any social exposure.</p