The Sofian House (Casa Sofian) is a late 19th-century historic residence in Botoșani, built by Nicolae and Ruxandra Sofian and later used by the charitable foundation established in their name. Nicolae Sofian was a wealthy landowner, former mayor and senator who became one of the city’s major philanthropists.
Because the couple had no children, Sofian arranged for much of his fortune to support charitable work. By the end of the 19th century, the house had become part of the Nicolae Sofian Institute, which managed several estates and funded social and educational projects. The building itself was used as a home for elderly people and other residents in need, while the foundation also supported an agricultural school elsewhere in the county.
The house is one of the most elaborate examples of Secession and Art Nouveau architecture in Botoșani. Its design combines a strongly modeled façade with rich stucco decoration, ornamental ironwork, carved woodwork and carefully detailed windows and doors. The composition is unusually refined for a private residence in the city and gives the building the appearance of a small urban mansion.
The Sofian Institute continued to use the building until 1947. During the communist period it successively housed an orphanage, vocational school and children’s placement center, and decades of institutional use were followed by neglect and serious deterioration. In 2003, the property passed to the Metropolitan Church of Moldavia and Bucovina for conversion into a cultural and religious center.
