St. Elijah–Rahova Church

About

The St. Elijah–Rahova Church (Romanian: Biserica Sfântul Ilie–Rahova) is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 79 Constantin Silvestru Street in Bucharest, Romania. It is dedicated to the Prophet Elijah.

The church was built on the site of an earlier church, called Gorgănel, that had been founded in 1706 by Safta, the daughter of Constantin Brâncoveanu, and destroyed during the 1802 earthquake. Vornic Fotache Știrbey led an initiative to rebuild the church, which after his 1828 death was taken up by Neofit, the Bishop of Râmnic, and Ban George Filipescu. The land, inherited by Iancu Bălcescu (uncle of Nicolae), was sold in 1835 to Clucer Bobescu.

The new church was built in 1837-1838. The main restoration took place in 1874, with a consolidation being undertaken after the 1940 earthquake. The arches were tied with metal cables, while the dome was encircled by iron girds, saving it from demolition, a fate that befell many damaged domes.

The interior was painted by Gheorghe Tattarescu in 1874; he signed on the nave wall, at the feet of his patron, Saint George. His work was restored in 1950 and again in the 1990s; the stained glass dates to 1993. The funerary stones of ktetor Știrbey...