The Monastery of Myra (Mira or Miera or Mera) in the Prefecture of Vrantsia

The monastery began to be built in wood towards the end of the 1682 or early in 1683 by Nikiphoros Motzok, a resident of the village of Odombesti, and his wife Ursa, with the assistance of the Bishop of Roman, Ioannis (1674-1685)²¹. After the death of both men, before April 1686, the monastery was completed and for this reason Ursa bestowed on it grants of land. In 1686 the new Prince, Constantin Cantemir, extended the Monastery and included it in the category of princely monasteries. The eldest son of Cantemir, Antiochos, built another monastery of stone next to the earlier wooden one. The latter was burnt in 1716 as a result of a clash between the army of Moldavia and the Tatars. The construction of the new monastery was completed in 1705 during the rule of Antiochos. Significant improvements to the wall-paintings of the church were effected under the rule of Mitrophanis Kallergis. His role was major, as is  evident from the presence of his portrait -among those of the founders on one of the walls of the church.

Shortly after the construction of the monastery in 1689, Prince Constantin Cantemir dedicated it to the Monastery of Vatopaidi, appointing as Abbot the titular Metropolitan of Laodicea Grigorios²². Despite the fact that the monastery was not merely a witness to the confrontations between opposing camps, but was itself a battlefield – a circumstance that caused it considerable damage – it still managed to augment its original property and was thereby able to amass, with the assistance of princes or of dignitaries, extensive landed property.

In the middle of the 19th century the Monastery maintained – and leased out – six properties in the Prefecture of Putna: in the immediate area of the monastery, at Adjudul Veki, at Padureni, at Pretsisteanu, at Petresti, and at Balotesti.

From time to time, in the period which intervened, it had also acquired the following properties: Odobesti, Comisesti, Parlanesti, Volukani, Gatresti, Gerkesti, Rakoasa, Clipitresti, Fourtresti, Troulesti, Vitanesti, Slombozia, Precisti, Mandristi, Staesti – all fifteen in the Prefecture of Putna.

Today it survives in good condition, following a series of renovations.