Archaeological excavations from 1955–1956 and 1980-1982 confirmed with certainty the existence of an aulic residence at Putna, on the southern side of the precincts. The construction, built of stone and mortar after the 1484 fire, dates back to the times of Stephen the Great.
Archaeological findings in this area – fewer than those from other similar monuments (Bistrița, Probota, Slatina) – prove that the princely residence was a building with rich reliefs worked in Gothic style and façades decorated with squarely or triangularly‑shaped enameled ceramic knobs and plates in shades of green, yellow and sienna.
Like all the other edifices within Putna precinct, the Princely House was later damaged by different calamities. An annotation on a Menaion from the 15th century says that in 1536 “the princely houses, refectories, kitchen, hospital and cellar” were destroyed by fire. The building would also suffer the plunder and devastation produced by Tymish Khmelnytsky in 1653, the arson caused by Jan Sobieski’s soldiers in 1691, and various damages after the 1739 earthquake.
As noted on the 1756 Diptych and also mentioned by Archimandrite Bartholomew Mazereanu, between 1758 and 1759, on the site of the former princely house, Metropolitan Jacob built the refectory, the kitchen and the Chapel of the Holy Apostles.
Between 1854 and 1856, some buildings were demolished. Among them, the one erected by Metropolitan Jacob of Putna on the site of the old aulic residence. It was replaced by a new 46.5‑meter‑long one‑level stone‑and‑brick building meant to serve as kitchen, refectory, cellar and cells with their adjacent basements, on the southern side of the precinct. Unfortunately, this meant eliminating most of the original construction remains.
Snapshot from a visit made by Patriarch Theoctistus, then Metropolitan of Moldavia and Suceava, at the Princely House building site in 1984.
In the eighth decade of the last century, the Moldavian Metropolitan of the time and future Patriarch Theoctistus initiated and supported the Princely House reconstruction project elaborated by architects Ștefan Balș and Virgil Antonescu. The rebuilding was accomplished with great financial and organizational effort by the Moldavian Metropolitan See and the Putna monastic community of the time.
The dedicatory inscription embedded into the western wall of the reconstructed Princely House states the following: “By the will of the Father, the help of the Son, and the fulfillment of the Holy Spirit, this outstanding edifice was erected on the foundations of the princely house formerly raised by the voivodes of the House of Mușat, as the archaeological researches of 1981 and 1982 proved. Work started in 1981 with the approval and support of state institutions, on the expense of the Metropolitan See of Moldavia and Suceava and with the continual guidance and care of His Beatitude Theoctistus, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, who consecrated it on August 15, 1988, during the abbacy of The Very Reverend Archimandrite Hyacinth.”
The entrance portal of the Princely House. Set into the doorframe, at the base of the left jamb, is a medieval stone block that still bears traces of paint.
The project was faithful to the architectural elements and decorations confirmed by historical and archaeological researches, but it also allowed updated functionality. Nowadays, the Princely House includes “the Princely Hall,” which hosts annual conventions and different meetings of the monastic community with important secular or ecclesiastic guests.
The present-day Princely House was built on the ruins of an edifice discovered during the archaeological excavations made in 1955-1956 and 1980-1982 in the southern part of the monastery precincts.
There are also residential rooms, the kitchen and the refectory. The building incorporates several Gothic‑style profiled stones discovered during the excavations. Certain decorative elements replicate the defining style of Prince Stephen’s edifices. The exterior decoration consists of enameled ceramic plates.
