The project called "International Support for the Restoration and Preservation of the Probota Monastery" started in September 1996 after a planning and consultation period lasting more than two years. The project was funded by the Japanese Trust Fund for the Preservation of the World Cultural Heritage. It is the only project outside Asia which has received funds from this source making the Probota Monastery a special case.

This collaboration came about after the Romanian government asked UNESCO’s help - both financial and technical - in devising and implementing a plan for restoration. The Probota Monastery in northern Moldavia warranted high level attention. It has one of the few Painted Churches of this type in the world. Its exterior frescoes are some of the oldest surviving ones in Moldavia. Unlike other churches on the World Cultural Heritage List, Probota had not received any recent restoration and was not on the official tourist circuit.

UNESCO made its own proposal for restoration to the Japanese Trust Fund. After the two parties and the Government of Romania agreed on the Plan of Operations, the project started in the autumn of 1996. The project was to be accomplished in two years with the following objectives.

First, restore the interior and exterior wall paintings of the St.Nicholas church. Second, make architectural repairs and conserve the church, adjacent buildings and fortress walls. Third, conduct an archaeological excavation of the monastery compound to obtain the general stratigraphy of the site. Any uncovered structures would be conserved and prepared for presentation.

After the first two years elapsed, additional two years were granted for the project, and a fifth year for the documentation and monitoring of the restoration works.

Preserving the authenticity of the site was the aim of the project since the beginning. Without great care restoration can change the atmosphere of a place. To avoid this, original and natural materials were used whenever possible in the architectural and mural painting work. The information gathered during this process is contributing to a clearer and truer history of the monastery.