St. Dumitru Church: An Eastern Orthodox Church in Orhei, Moldova
Site at a Glance
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Moldova
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Ottoman, Principality of Moldavia
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page5 sections
History
St. Dumitru Church is an Eastern Orthodox church in Orhei, Moldova, founded by Vasile Lupu and built between 1632 and 1636 in a mixed Moldavian type and Byzantine style. Byzantine architecture is a tradition associated with the Eastern Roman Empire and influential in Orthodox churches. The church was consecrated in 1637, when Lupu arrived in Orhei. He ruled the historical principality of Moldavia from 1634 to 1653.
The church is regarded as one of Moldova’s most important surviving ecclesiastical buildings and forms part of the country’s national architectural heritage. It was restored in 1939, and painter Petru Remus Troteanu restored its interior murals during the same work.
Remains
Plan and exterior
The church has an elongated rectangular entrance hall, or narthex, and a main worship space, or nave. A closed porch stands in front of the narthex, offset to one side rather than aligned with it. Above the narthex rises a later two-level bell tower, added as part of changes to the exterior. The entrance portal has a stone frame in Gothic style, and Gothic elements also appear in the windows. Stone domes cover the nave and narthex; they are considered probably the only authentic stone domes in Moldavian churches to have remained unaffected by the passage of time.
Interior
The interior murals are well preserved. One depicts Vasile Lupu holding a model of the church. Candle smoke has visibly affected the interior paintwork.
Inscription, bells, and monument
Above the entrance, an inscription has Moldavia’s coat of arms at its center. The church bells bear bullet holes dating from the Second World War. A bronze monument to Vasile Lupu, sculpted by Oscar Han, once stood in the church courtyard; it may have been moved in 2001 to the town center near the city hall.
