Armenian Church

The “Saint Mary” Armenian church was rebuilt from the ground in 1803 in the so-called Armenian Quarter. Tradition says that the nearby “Saint Sava” Church would have been erected on a former Armenian temple, too. An inscription in a stone plaque in the yard mentions a religious site in 1395, the oldest such written testimony in the city, but the date is contested. The 1977 earthquake strongly damaged the church, and it was rehabilitated in 2008 by the Romanian Government. The present day church has the shape of a clover, with two supple towers. Inside we can notice the ample arches, the balcony sustained by four columns and the golden iconostasis carved in wood with floral motifs. The former Armenian Athenaeum can be seen in the yard, along with 55 old tombstones. (PHOTO : Mihai BULAI)