Saint John the Baptist Church, Iași

About

Saint John the Baptist Church (Romanian: Biserica Tăierea Capului Sfântului Ioan Botezătorul) is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 14 I. C. Brătianu Street in Iași, Romania. It is dedicated to the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. In 1610, during the reign of Prince Constantin Movilă, a wooden church dedicated to Parascheva of the Balkans was built around the city's fish market. This was later moved to the site of the current church. Upon the insistence of his mother, the nun Elisafta, Prince Miron Barnovschi-Movilă began to build the latter from stone between 1626 and 1629. During his reign, the church was completed up to the top of the windows and a new dedication selected. Beheaded by the Ottomans in 1633, he did not live to see the church complete, as mentioned on a marble plaque above the foyer door. Instead, Vasile Lupu ensured it was finished. It has been suggested that Lupu performed the work out of remorse, as Barnovschi's execution was partly due to his insistences.

When it was done in 1634, it was the first fortified church in Moldavia. The style forms part of the traditional Moldavian architecture, but the bell tower is endowed with parapets. The bridge is entirely...