Ovidenia Church - Bat Cave (Saint Gregory the Decapolite) - Bistrita

The oldest historical monument in the Bat Cave is the Ovidenia Church.

It is believed that the first church in the cave was built at the end of the 13th century, but it was ruined in the 14th century, when the monks left the cave and built the church of Bolnița, in the time of the abbot of Tismana.

The Ovidenia church was built between 1633 and 1635, but the latest research has established that it was built at the same time as the relics of Saint Gregory the Decapolite were brought to the Bistrita monastery in 1497. The founder of the church is believed to be Abbot Macarie, whose votive portrait is on the north wall, next to Abbot Daniil's portrait, the last of the restorers (1828, after others in 1609 and 1769). Subsequent restorations were made in 1944-1945 and 1977-1978.

The church was built to serve as a place of worship, but above all as a "tavern" of the monastery. The relics of Saint Gregory the Decapolite, the monastery's artefacts and even the precious possessions of the rulers of those times, when the country was in danger, were hidden here on several occasions. For this purpose, a boil was built between the wall of the cave gallery and the west wall of the church, the entrance to which was through the altar, and which was built and concealed after the valuables had been hidden there. It is to this hiding place that many of the valuable books and other objects of art that museums boast of today are preserved to this day.

The church is built at the end of a small diverticulum that juts out of the main gallery of the cave, in a hidden place, making it difficult to see, and is built partly of brick wall, partly hewn into the walls of the gallery.

Due to the shape of the gallery, it does not follow the specifics of Orthodox churches, with the altar facing north-west. It consists only of a modestly sized nave (3 x 2.20 m) and an altar, and the side walls are decorated with friezes simulating windows.

The painting, executed in Byzantine style, is rather poorly preserved, both because of the dampness in the cave and because of the tourists who have left their "footprints" on the walls of the church. Given the year of its foundation, it can be assumed that it is the work of the same painters who painted the Bolnița church (Dobromir and the apprentices Dumitru and Chirtop).