Description

The Stavropoleos monastery includes, besides the church erected in 1724 by the Greek Ioanichie, the premises built at the beginning of the 20th century, by the architect Ion Mincu. Initially only a simple inn was built, the place soon became suitable for a holy place of prayer. Many of the well-known inns located in the center of Bucharest had churches or monasteries in the middle of the inner courtyard; in fact, few have appeared as annexes of churches and monasteries, erected by egumeans to increase their incomes.
Only the church was preserved from the initial construction of the monastery and inn. The other buildings are the result of a vast restoration and construction project started in 1897, following the plans of the architect Ion Mincu.

The collection of art objects inside the monastery contains icons, cult objects, decorative art pieces and fresco fragments recovered from the churches demolished during the communist regime. There are also objects that belonged to the monastery before secularization: the gift given by Ioanichie of Stavropola in 1734, the candle from 1788, the gospel with the inscription dating from 1735. The library arranged inside the enclosure contains numerous volumes of theology, art and history. The acquisitions made in the last years bring together an important collection of biblical, dogmatic, liturgical, historical, pastoral, catechetical, dictionaries and manuals of classical languages, as well as studies on Byzantine art, Romanian history and civilization of the 18th century.