The only monastery in the Old Town
Stavropoleos Street
Bucharest is a city filled with churches, most of them dating back to the 18th or 19th century. However, out of the over 300 churches that are active, the most famous and beautiful one is the small church, part of the Stavropoleos Monastery. The name means in Greek “city of the cross” and it was given by its founder, the Greek monk Ioanichis. The first construction was an inn made of wood. In 1724, the monk added the small Orthodox church we see today. The church is quite small because the plot of land Ioanichis had did not allow him to build bigger. In fact, in order to have enough space for the altar, he had to buy two extra meters from his neighbour. However, when viewing the church from the road, as it stands surrounded by tall simple buildings, its appearance is so striking that it seems like a piece of jewellery.
As seen on
The Old Town: The Heart of Bucharest
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