Old St. Eleftherios Church

About

The Old St. Eleftherios Church (Romanian: Biserica Sfântul Elefterie Vechi) is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 15B Sfântul Elefterie Street in Bucharest, Romania. It is dedicated to Saint Eleftherios and to Saint George.

The church was built in 1741–1744 on land belonging to the Metropolis of Ungro-Wallachia. The area was swampy, near a mill fed by the Dâmbovița River. In 1748, Prince Grigore II Ghica strengthened the church’s position, declaring it a metochion of the Metropolis.

In 1782, the grandson of Constantin Brâncoveanu found it necessary to carry out repairs. Damaged by the 1802 earthquake, its administration was taken over by Metropolitan Dositei Filitti two years later, and he consolidated the structure. The 1838 tremor caused severe damage; it is not known whether this was immediately fixed, but it is recorded that the monastic cells were demolished in 1852–1856.

In 1867, the church was transformed into a Greek Revival building, as per the prevailing fashion. Restoration work began in 1929; Ștefan Balș-Lupu was in charge of architecture, while Paul Popescu Molda supervised the frescoes. The project finished in 1935, having consolidated the walls, redone the roof, restored...