The Old Saint George Church (Biserica Sfântul Gheorghe Vechi) is a Romanian Orthodox Church in central Bucharest that is dedicated to Saint George. The annex ‘Old’ is used to distinguish the church from the nearby New Saint George Church that was established later.
The history of the church dates back to 1492 when a monastery was established on the same site. The original complex was destroyed by the Ottomans during the Battle of Călugăreni in 1595. It was later rebuilt, burned in 1718, and then restored again in 1724. The church was damaged again by earthquakes in 1802 and 1836 and further destroyed by the Great Fire of Bucharest in 1847. The parishioners quickly rebuilt the church and reopened it in 1849, but in 1875 it was decided to demolish the fragile building.
The current Old Saint George Church was built in its place and opened its doors in 1881. The church has a Ukrainian baroque style with some Romanian touches. It has a large Christ Pantocrator dome in the center, which reaches a height of 24 meters, and two smaller domes on the sides. The church is built on a cross-shaped plan and measures a length of 32 meters and a width of 16.9 meters. Its walls are 90-100 centimeters think and decorated with Neo-Corinthian capitals on the outside. The windows of the church are of stained glass and above the portico a Greek Revival pediment was built.
Opposite the church, on the ground floor of the parish house, is a small museum dedicated to Father Dumitru Stăniloae, who lived there with his family since 1947.
