Sinaia - Sinaia Monastery 锡纳亚修道院

Sinaia is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. The town was named after Sinaia Monastery, around which it was built; the monastery in turn is named after the Biblical Mount Sinai. King Carol I of Romania built his summer home, Peleș Castle, near the town.

Sinaia is about 60 kilometres (37 miles) northwest of Ploiești and 50 kilometres (31 miles) south of Brașov, in a mountainous area on the Prahova River valley, just east of the Bucegi Mountains. The altitude varies from 767 to 860 metres (2,516 to 2,822 feet) above sea level.

The Sinaia Monastery, located in Sinaia, in Prahova County, Romania, was founded by Prince Mihail Cantacuzino in 1695 and named after the great Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai in Egypt. As of 2005, it is inhabited by 13 Christian Orthodox monks led by hegumen Macarie Bogus. It is part of the Bucharest archdiocese.

Mihail Cantacuzino (1650-1716) second in command of Walachian troops,went on a pilgramage with his family and reached mount Sinai, where he visited an old IVth century Orthodox monastery Sf. Ecaterina. The impact was so stong that once home he commenced the building of the monastery, and named it after the mount. The town which came into being was also named Sinaia. The monastery built in between 1690-1695 had a double function: first of defence and surveillance, of the Prahova valley commercial route, and of cherity: providing shelter for the needy.

The Great Church was built in between 1842-1846. In 1892 the Bell Tower was added, with its 1700 kg weighing bell. Tkanks to Carol I this was the first church lit by electic power. The paintings of the church were made by a Danish painter Aage Exner. They show Queen Elisabeth and her daughter Mary who died at a young age, and Mihai Cantacuzino, the founder of the church. The furniture is carved wood, the altar screen, the furniture of the nave and the two thrones are gold plated.

锡纳亚修道院建于1695年，以锡纳亚山的名字而命名，修道院内有两座教堂，分别是建于1864年的规模宏大的东正教教堂和建于1695年的老教堂，老教堂内原有许多精巧的壁画，但是经过岁月流逝，壁画的色彩逐渐模糊，因此有许多的艺术家在随后的时间内进行了翻新和创作，新壁画和原来的壁画也逐渐融合在了一起，令人难以分辨。在修道院内还有一座小型的历史博物馆，是为了庆祝老教堂建成200周年而建造的，这也是罗马尼亚境内第一家以展示教堂历史和相关物品的教堂。