The Old Calendar Church of Saint Paraskeva (Biserica Sfânta Cuvioasă Parascheva pe Stil Vechi) is an Orthodox church in central Iași, belonging to the Romanian Old Calendar Orthodox community. Built between 1990 and 1998, it stands out for its three towers and richly ornamented exterior, with rows of niches and raised decorative details covering much of the façade.
The Old Calendar Orthodox movement emerged after the Romanian Orthodox Church adopted the revised calendar in 1924. Some clergy and believers rejected the change and continued observing religious feasts according to the traditional Julian calendar, eventually establishing their own church organization, centered at Slătioara Monastery in Suceava County. The movement faced restrictions during the communist period, but gained legal recognition as a religious association in 1990, allowing communities to establish new places of worship more openly.
Construction of the Saint Paraskeva church began that same year and continued until 1998, when it was consecrated on September 20 by Romanian and foreign Old Calendar Orthodox bishops. The building has a trefoil plan, with two towers rising above the entrance and a third above the altar. Its elaborate exterior decoration gives the relatively modern church a distinctive appearance among the older religious buildings of central Iași.
The church is dedicated to Saint Paraskeva of the Balkans, one of the most venerated saints in Moldavia, whose relics are kept in Iași’s Metropolitan Cathedral. It serves the city’s Old Calendar Orthodox congregation, which celebrates her feast according to the Julian calendar.
