The Saint Catherine Church (Biserica Sfânta Ecaterina) of Bucharest is a Romanian Orthodox church close to Union Square in the center of Bucharest.
The church was built in 1852, but prior to that earlier churches existed in this location as early as the 16th century. The first church, built by Ivașcu Golescu, was named after the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai and adopted the same patron saint. In 1595 the church was damaged by the Ottoman troops of Sinan Pasha after which treasurer Pană took care of its reconstruction. In 1611, the army of Gabriel Bathory burned the church and killed a monk.
In 1850 the church was deemed unsanitary and in an advanced state of deterioration so it was decided to demolish it and build a completely new church in its place. An inn, that had been built on the same land by Ecaterina Psilanti towards the end of the 18th century, was demolished in 1862.
The Saint Catherine Church functions as a university chapel of the nearby Faculty of Theology of the University of Bucharest and celebrates the martyr Saint Catherine yearly on 25 November.
