St. Dumitru's Church

About

St. Demetrius–Poștă Church (Romanian: Biserica Sfântul Dimitrie–Poștă) is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 2 Poștei Street in the Lipscani district of Bucharest, Romania. It is dedicated to Demetrius of Thessaloniki.

A church existed on the site around 1500. Probably destroyed after the Battle of Călugăreni in 1595 and rebuilt after 1600, the subsequent church is mentioned in a document of 1680. Before 1690, the church was rebuilt by Badea Bălăceanu, the brother-in-law of Șerban Cantacuzino.

Made of wood, it did not last long. It was rebuilt in stone in 1741–1746, was in poor shape in 1797, severely damaged by the 1802 earthquake and burned in 1804. The current structure was begun in 1819 by Buzău Bishop Constantin Filitti, continued by his successor Gherasim Rătescu and completed in 1843 by still another bishop, Chesarie Căpățână.

Unusually for the period, contracts from 1819 between Filitti and an architect, a carpenter and three painters survive. The 1847 Great Fire of Bucharest destroyed the roof and paintings; repairs carried out in 1852 included a new roof, reinforced walls and new paintings by Carol Szathmari. By 1912, the church was again in ruins and proposed for demolition...