Foișor Church
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The Foișor Church (Romanian: Biserica Foișor) is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 119 Foișorului Street in Bucharest, Romania. It is dedicated to the Nativity of Mary.
Situated on a hillock, the church was founded by Smaranda, the third wife of Prince Nicholas Mavrocordatos, as a chapel for her houses. The pisanie is from November 1745, marking the date of completion. The houses offered a fine view of the Dâmbovița River. They were linked across swampy ground to the Văcărești Monastery by a wooden bridge provided with a turret or foișor, giving rise to the name of the district and church. The church and houses were placed under the authority of Radu Vodă Monastery, which owned the area. Ban Mihail Cantacuzino mentioned the church as possessing an inn, namely the houses. By 1813, the building was in ruins and needed repairs, carried out in 1849. The iconostasis was damaged by the 1838 earthquake.[1]
Until 1880, the open portico served as a church school for the children of parishioners; a church singer would teach pupils to read the Horologion and the psalter. In 1888-1889, the portico was enclosed with glass and the windows enlarged. An ambon was installed and the old frescoes covered in oil paintings by Gheorghe Tattarescu. A lead roof was added in 1914-1915, while an altar entrance room was added to the southeast. Serving as a vestry and, in the basement, as a deposit for liturgical items, the small area is decorated similarly to the facade. The interior, maintaining much of its original appearance, is in contrast with the exterior, modified during the 19th century. In the 1980s, when the neighborhood underwent systematization, the architect in charge deliberately omitted the church from the plans he presented to dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, in order to protect it from demolition.[1]
