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Oțetari Church

Churches completed in 1757Historic monuments in BucharestRomanian Orthodox churches in Bucharest
Biserica Oțetari 61
Biserica Oțetari 61

The Oțetari Church (Romanian: Biserica Oțetari) is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 4 Oțetari Street in Bucharest, Romania. It is dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel and to Saint Nicholas. A wooden church was built on the site in 1681, and rebuilt in 1708. The current masonry structure dates to 1757, as attested by the pisanie in the narthex, which mentions the names of several donors. It was at this point that the church received its second patron saint. A document of 1785, issued by Grigorie II Colțea, Metropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia, indicates that the church was built by locals. It was restored in 1860-1866 by Metropolitan Nifon Rusailă with the help of the Hagi Tudorache family, interred inside. During this time, Gheorghe Tattarescu painted the entire interior. Repairs were carried out in 1906 and 1964, while the painting was restored in 1984. The 39 exterior mosaic medallions date to the late 20th century.The church is 24.5 meters long, 7.5 meters wide and 11 meters high. Its shape is trefoil, with an octagonal spire above the nave. The portico has a spherical ceiling atop which sits the square base of the bell tower. Both spires end in a bulb-shaped roof. These as well as the main roof are covered in tin. The closed narthex is decorated with pilasters, facade and three arches. The frieze, slightly in profile, features three mosaics of saints.The church is listed as a historic monument by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Oțetari Church (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Oțetari Church
Strada Oțetari, Bucharest Cartierul Armenesc (Sector 2)

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N 44.43894 ° E 26.10717 °
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Biserica Ortodoxă „Oțetari”

Strada Oțetari 4
020978 Bucharest, Cartierul Armenesc (Sector 2)
Romania
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Biserica Oțetari 61
Biserica Oțetari 61
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Statue of Ion Luca Caragiale (Bucharest)
Statue of Ion Luca Caragiale (Bucharest)

A statue of Ion Luca Caragiale, sculpted by Constantin Baraschi, is located on Maria Rosetti Street in central Bucharest, Romania. It is placed in front of the house where the dramatist and short story writer Ion Luca Caragiale once lived. In 1957, Baraschi took part in the contest for the statue of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, which Communist authorities meant to place in front of the Casa Scînteii, a newly built Socialist Realist structure in northern Bucharest. His bronze sculpture lost the contest to the one designed by Boris Caragea, so Baraschi decided to replace the head of Lenin's statue with that of Caragiale. He was once again refused, because this statue could have been seen as mocking Lenin. However, the statue was bought by the state and, after years of being kept in a courtyard in the Splaiul Independenței area, it was moved to the Cartea Românească Publishing House courtyard from General Berthelot Street, perhaps at the intervention of influential novelist Marin Preda.In 1998, nine years after the 1989 Revolution, the Cartea Românească building was returned to its rightful owner; the Ministry of Culture had to take the statue into its patrimony, and subsequently moved it in front of a house where Caragiale lived once, on Maria Rosetti Street. In 2002, Dinu Săraru, chairman of the National Theatre Bucharest, oversaw the statue's move to a new location on University Square, in front of the Theatre's building. After Săraru resigned from office, on 11 February 2006, it was moved back to Maria Rosetti Street, because the move had not been approved and, as such, was technically illegal. A statue of the major Romanian actor Grigore Vasiliu Birlic, is planned to take its place in University Square.The statue is featured in the foreground of the reverse of the 100 lei banknote, at its old location in front of the old building of the Bucharest National Theatre.

Church with the Saints
Church with the Saints

The Church with the Saints (Romanian: Biserica cu Sfinți), also the Church with the Sibyls (Biserica cu Sibile), is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 79 Calea Moșilor in Bucharest, Romania. It is dedicated to the Presentation of Mary. Situated at what was once the edge of the city, the church stands on the site of an earlier one. Probably made of wood, this structure dated to the late 17th century and was established by Popa (priest) Hierea Băjescul, whose name (as “Fierea”) was later used to designate the church and its surroundings; he donated it to the Metropolis of Ungro-Wallachia. The nickname involving sibyls arose as these were painted on the exterior; in the 19th century, saints were added as a designation, for similar reasons.The present church was built under Metropolitan Daniil II; according to the pisanie, the interior was painted and the structure finished in 1728. Tradition holds that Prince Nicholas Mavrocordatos, riding through the area with Daniil some two years previous, saw the ruined wooden church and proposed its rebuilding. Repaired in 1819, it was severely damaged by the 1838 earthquake. As part of the repairs, a dome was demolished in 1845 and replaced by a wooden one. The Metropolis stopped upkeep after 1860; the church, in ruins and threatened with demolition, was closed. The present sibyls and prophets on the exterior date to an 1897 renovation. The church was repaired in 1912 and restored in 1931.The cross-shaped church is 21.7 meters long and 7.7 to 8.7 meters wide, reaching 9.3 meters high at the pediment and 19 at the high dome. The portico was added later and is as wide as the narthex. It has three frontal arches and one on each side, inscribed in semicircular vaults. These rest on massive stone columns with simple capitals and bases. The bell tower sits atop the narthex, which has a semi-spherical ceiling. The arches with columns separate the narthex from the nave, above which rests the Christ Pantocrator dome. Both domes, rebuilt later, have square bases, octagonal sides and bell-shaped roofs. The narrow windows on the lower part of the facade feature ornamental frames.The most special feature of the church is the exterior painting, much deteriorated with time. This is found on the upper and lower sections of the facade, separated by a slightly profiled string course. The upper part has pairs of paintings showing ancient philosophers and prophetesses (or sibyls), in red, ochre, black and white. There are nine philosophers and ten sibyls, including, on the north wall, Thucydides and Plato (with crowned head and a scroll in his right hand); on the north and south nave walls, the sibyls Erythraea, Cumaea, Phrygia, Sardica, Cimmeria, Heles, Delphica and Persica, each holding a textual scroll. The south wall depicts Thales (with a book in the right hand and a scroll in the left), Ermis, Aristotle and the Stoics. An icon of the Presentation is painted on the western facade, above the portico; Saints Charalambos and Nicholas are on the sides. Several saints’ icons surround the entrance, as well as images depicting the ktetors.

Scaune Church
Scaune Church

The Scaune Church (Romanian: Biserica Scaune) is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 2 Scaune Street in Bucharest, Romania. It is dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God and to the Nativity of Mary. The pisanie indicates the presence of a wooden church in 1611, and a list of priests in the parish archive begins with that year. The first documentary mention dates to 1669, with additional records later in the 17th century. The name derives from the surrounding district, and refers to the wooden slabs on which butchers cut meat. In its first two centuries, it was also known as Măcelarilor (Butchers’) and Săpunarilor (Soap makers’). The present church is located on the same site; the pisanie records that it was completed in 1705. A merchant willed funds for the purpose, which were granted by his nephew. In 1843, the portico arches were enclosed in masonry, while the exterior was plastered and repainted. It was repaired again in 1878, and once more in 1915, when it lay in ruins.The church was closed from around 1908 to 1939. At that point, repairs started under architect Ștefan Balș-Lupu, who opened the arches and tiled the roof. In 1944, the surrounding soil was cleared away, as the terrain is around one meter higher than the base of the church. New flooring was installed on the interior and exterior. The iconostasis, dating to the early 18th century, was restored, as was the baldachin. The interior frescoes are original, their date and author unknown; these too were cleaned and repaired. The church reopened on August 15, 1944, the primary feast day, and was reconsecrated on September 8, the second feast.The cross-shaped church measures 27.1 meters long by 8.3 to 12 meters wide, with thick walls. Its only dome, the octagonal bell tower with recessed arches above the narthex, was rebuilt in 1954. There was originally another one above the nave, which was not restored, and the central part of this section has a vaulted ceiling. The portico features ten thick brick columns supporting five quite narrow arches on the western facade (the central one being larger) and two on each side. It has two vaulted ceiling sections. The stone portal is carved with floral designs. The wooden door is coated in tin, signed by a worker in 1795. The exterior decoration is light: a string course between two rows of brick set in sawtooth pattern, a cornice with a similar design and windows with simple stone frames. The cornice and dome base feature specially positioned bricks. The parish house dates to 1947.The church is listed as a historic monument by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.

Darvari Skete
Darvari Skete

The Darvari Skete (Romanian: Schitul Darvari) is a Romanian Orthodox skete located at 3 Schitul Darvari Street, Bucharest, Romania. It is dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. In 1834, căminar (tavern tax collector) Mihalache Darvari built a small church with no dome behind the Icoanei Church. Surrounded by monastic cells and walls, it served as a family chapel. Nuns from Pasărea and Samurcășești monasteries were brought in the following year. They remained until 1864, when domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza ordered them outside the city, and services were subsequently held by married priests. In 1869, monks passing through from Prodromos visited, officiating like on Mount Athos and attracting many visitors. A few stayed behind. In 1894, administrator Nicolae Darvari repaired the ruined skete, adding a small dome to the church.The old church was entirely demolished in 1933-1934 and replaced by the current structure. Architect Gheorghe Simotta employed an Oltenian-Muntenian style, while the entire interior was painted in Athonite fresco by Iosif Keber. In 1959, the communist regime sent the monks to the monasteries at Cernica and Bucium, and Darvari became a subsidiary of Icoanei. The complex was declared a historic monument in 1992, and reopened as a monastic establishment in 1996, with eight young monks.The small cross-shaped church measures 19 x 8 meters, with an octagonal dome that sits on a square base above the nave. The porch has been closed since the original construction. Ktetor Darvari is buried on the west end of the interior. Small silver boxes display relics of several saints, including John Chrysostom, Charalambos, Ignatius of Antioch, Eleftherios, Gerasimus of the Jordan and Ambrose. The monastic cells, chapel and refectory were completed in 2001.

Icoanei Church
Icoanei Church

The Icoanei Church (Romanian: Biserica Icoanei) is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 12 Icoanei Street in Bucharest, Romania. It is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The church derives its name from a 1682 icon that mentions a wooden church which, according to Nicolae Iorga, was built by Ceauș (messenger) David Corbea, whom Constantin Brâncoveanu sent as emissary to the court of Peter the Great. In its early years, it was thus also known as Ceauș David or Popa Dima, after a priest. In its stead, Mihail Băbeanu, former privy secretary to the Prince of Wallachia, built a domed wooden church surrounded by cells, variously dated to 1745-1750 or 1770. The first masonry church, dedicated to the Trinity, dates to 1784–1786; its ktetor was mercenary captain Panait Băbeanu, nephew of Mihail. As depicted in the votive painting, this church had three domes and a three-lobed plan, and was painted in fresco. Panait added twelve cells for poor widows.Damaged by the 1838 earthquake, the church was restored by Pană Băbeanu, the grandson of Panait, assisted by parishioners. The iconostasis, still in use, dates to 1850. By 1862, the church was in ruins, its funds wasted by Ioniță Băbeanu. In 1873, Elena Băbeanu commissioned a substantial renovation, led by architect Alexandru Orăscu, which gave the building its current form. The 1887-1889 restoration added the portico, redid the domes and enlarged the windows. Under the auspices of another Mihail Băbeanu, the painting was redone in 1889 by a pupil of Gheorghe Tattarescu, covering the old frescoes. In 1928, architect Paul Smărăndescu undertook a thorough renovation, removing the central dome. Consolidation took place after the earthquakes of 1940 and 1977, while work on the iconostasis and painting unfolded in 1967 and 1980. The church was re-sanctified in 1991.The cross-shaped church measures 23 meters long by 9 to 10.8 meters wide; the apses are in slight relief and circular both inside and out. The round Pantocrator dome above the nave has eight windows; the square bell tower above the narthex, aligned with the western facade, has two large windows on each side. The roof is flat, in two halves, terminating in a tympanum at the bell tower base. Entry is through a small open portico with a decorated frieze; it rests on pairs of stone columns. The facade ornamentation is slightly in relief: a cornice with small palmettes underscored by a sawtooth design, floral rosettes placed above the windows, icons of Saints Peter and Paul to the sides of the entrance. The interior windows are colored in pastel tones, with blue predominant. The tin-coated domes are decorated similarly to the facade.The church is listed as a historic monument by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs. Also listed is the tomb of General Ioan Odobescu. The yard holds several other graves, the earliest being from 1846. The icon of the Virgin Mary, which attracts visitors, is kept before the altar.