Stavropoleos Monastery
Small Brancovenesc church of 1724 in the old town, with a cloister rebuilt by Ion Mincu.
The church of Saints Michael and Gabriel was built in 1724 by the Greek archimandrite Ioanichie Stratonikeas, during the reign of Nicolae Mavrocordat, next to an inn whose income supported it. It is a compact example of the Brancovenesc style, with a carved stone portal, slender twisted columns on the open porch and a facade of painted medallions of saints. The interior keeps its original painting in part, together with a carved and gilded iconostasis.
The inn and adjoining buildings were pulled down in the nineteenth century and the belfry fell in an earthquake, leaving the church isolated. Between 1904 and 1908 the architect Ion Mincu restored the building and added a small cloistered courtyard, which now holds a lapidarium of stone fragments and tombstones from demolished Bucharest churches. A monastic community was re-established in 1991, and the monastery is known for its Byzantine chant and its library of old music manuscripts.
Highlights
- Carved stone porch with twisted Brancovenesc columns
- Painted medallions of saints across the facade
- Cloister and lapidarium added by Ion Mincu
- Byzantine chant and a library of old manuscripts
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