They are priestly vestments made of two parallel strips worn hanging around the neck during the religious services. The epitrachelion symbolizes the gift of the Holy Spirit shared with the believers through the works of the priesthood. Most of the Putna epitrachelions date back to the 15th century. Four of them bear dedicatory inscriptions from Stephen the Great, and one even has the donor’s portrait embroidered on it.

The one donated on June 15, 1489, is the oldest. The piece is embroidered on a red-purple silk background and includes 15 icons. The names of the saints are indicated by inscriptions in Greek. On the lower part, at the edge, the following inscription is embroidered: “Io Stephen Voivode, Prince of Moldavia, hath this epitrachelion made in 6997 <1489>, the 15th of June”.

The second epitrachelion dates back to the last quarter of the 15th century. On the lower edge of the vestment is embroidered the inscription: “Io Stephen Voivode and Lady Mary”. Its iconography is almost identical to the previously mentioned piece, minus the icon of St Cyrill of Jerusalem.

The third epitrachelion with inscription has 18 faces of saints embroidered on it and was made sometime between 1478 (the year when Stephen the Great married Mary Voichița) and 1504. The piece is embroidered with silk and silver-gilt thread on a brown silk background and bears the following inscription: “Stephen Voivode hath this epitrachelion made for his Putna Monastery. And Mary, his lady”.

The fourth epitrachelion is distinct from the other, as the icons embroidered on it do not show New Testament saints, but Old Testament prophets. The upper part is decorated with three icons: our Savior Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, and St. John the Baptist. On the lower part is the inscription: “Stephen Voivode hath this epitrachelion made for his Putna Monastery, and Mary, his lady. Bogdan Voivode”.

The next epitrachelion differs from the other in that it has no dedicatory inscription, but it has the face of the donor instead. Two medallions on the lower part of the epitrachelion represent “Stephen Voivode” and “Alexander, son of Stephen Voivode”. The ends of the two strips are embroidered with two imperial insignia: losange ouvert (described as two intertwined C letters) and bâtons parallèles (a grid made of four intersected bars). The two insignia are repeated cyclically, concluding the entire plan of the epitrachelion.

Apart from these five epitrachelia, the treasury of Putna Monastery also preserves others that bear no dedicatory inscriptions. Chronologically, they, too, have been placed around the 15th–16th centuries and are thought to have been, likewise, offered to Putna by Stephen the Great.

Their number is also five. From a technical and compositional standpoint, the pieces are very similar to the former group. In only one instance, it has been noted that the background was entirely embroidered with metallic thread, and some of the icons represent new saints: Saint Blaise, Holy Apostles Andrew, Simon, and Philip, and Holy Hierarch Sylvester.

Alongside these ten epitrachelia, dated to the 15th–16th centuries, Putna Monastery also preserves another epitrachelion, equally old, whose inscription clearly shows that it does not come from Stephen the Great: “This epitrachelion was made by Matei and Teodosia, for their commemoration.” Nothing is known regarding the identity of these two persons. The iconographic plan of the epitrachelion is as follows: Holy Hierarchs John Chrysostom and Sylvester; Gregory the Theologian and Athanasius; Cyril and Spyridon; Sophronius and Nicephorus; Metrophanes and Tarasius; Holy Archdeacons Stephen and Prochorus.