The Merchants Church (Biserica Neguțători), also known as Greeks’ Church (Biserica Greci), is a historic Romanian Orthodox church dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in the old commercial center of Buzău. Its history dates back to the early development of the town, when merchants, particularly those of Greek origin, played an important role in local trade.
An earlier church on this site, known as the Popii Mihai Church, existed before the end of the 15th century and was documented in 1585. As Buzău developed into a trading center for livestock and grain exported to the Ottoman Empire, Greek merchants established a growing presence in the town. In 1649, Badea Obredi, a merchant from Brăila supported by the Wallachian ruler Matei Basarab, built a new church on the site. Known as the Greeks’ Church, it served the Greek population, with religious services conducted in Greek until the early 19th century.
After the church deteriorated and suffered damage during the Russo-Turkish War of 1806, local merchants financed its reconstruction in 1850, led by Nicolae Caloian, Dimitrie Sărățeanu, and Atanasie Poenaru. The present building dates from this reconstruction, while the bell tower was rebuilt in 1873. The church’s interior was repainted in 1915 by Dimitrie Nicoleanu.
The church has a large basilica-style structure with a later entrance porch of metal and glass, supported by four stone columns beneath a classical pediment. Its separate bell tower combines a lower level of dressed stone, a brick middle story, and a wooden upper section. Inside, the Baroque-style iconostasis and pulpit feature elaborate carvings of grapevines, grapes, and flowers. The church also preserves historic Greek-language religious books printed in Venice during the 17th century, recalling its origins as a place of worship for Buzău’s Greek merchants.
