Saint Spyridon Church, Iași

About

Saint Spyridon Church (Romanian: Biserica Sfântul Spiridon) is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 1 Independenței Boulevard in Iași, Romania. The church is dedicated to Saint Spyridon, its history is linked to that of the nearby Sfântul Spiridon Hospital. The original church on the site was built between 1752 and 1758.

Funds were supplied by the learned boyar Ștefan Bosie, whom the expense bankrupted; he was later joined by hetman Vasile Ruset and the merchant Anastasie Lipscanul of Corfu. The ktitors also founded the hospital, Iași's first, in 1757. This took place during the rule of Prince Constantin Racoviță, who issued the decree ordering construction.

It is unknown why the somewhat unusual name of Spyridon was selected: this is possibly because he was the patron saint of the Ghica family, or because his canon was printed at Iași in 1750. The church was initially used as a monastery, and in 1763, Ecumenical Patriarch Samuel declared it stauropegic, making its archimandrite the titular bishop of Irenopolis. In 1770, during the Russo-Turkish War, the Russian army was quartered inside the building.

The church was gravely damaged in the 1802 Vrancea earthquake, demolished in late...