The Wooden Church of Saint Nicholas (Biserica de Lemn Sfântul Nicolae) is an eighteenth-century Romanian Orthodox church in Slobozia, standing in the grounds of the National Museum of Agriculture. Originally built in the village of Poiana de Jos, it was relocated twice to protect and preserve the historic wooden structure.
The church was founded by Răducanu Târcă, his family, and local landowners, with an inscription recording the year 1737. It originally stood in the village cemetery at Poiana de Jos, where it also served an educational purpose. By the late eighteenth century, a school was operating at the church, with two priests and a teacher providing instruction. As the building deteriorated and flooding from the Ialomița River threatened the site, it gradually fell out of religious use around 1900.
Efforts to preserve the abandoned church eventually led to its dismantling and reconstruction on higher ground at Poiana de Sus in 1979, an initiative supported by museum director Răzvan Ciucă. In 2000, the building was moved again, this time to the National Museum of Agriculture in Slobozia, where it was reconstructed and consecrated on December 17. The church received a second dedication to the Annunciation and returned to use as an Orthodox place of worship.
The small church is built from massive oak beams joined horizontally, with a steep shingled roof, a single tower, and an open porch. A carved rope-pattern band runs around the exterior, while the porch columns, entrance doorway, and interior furnishings have traditional woodcarving. Inside, the iconostasis contains historic icons, and the vaulted ceiling was painted by Romanian artist Ion Nicodim following the church’s relocation to Slobozia.
A substantial restoration completed in 2023 repaired the wooden structure and roof, conserved the carved decorations and historic icons, and restored the painted ceiling. The church is preserved as part of the museum’s collection of rural buildings while also serving as an active place of worship.
