The Borzeşti Church (also known as The Church of the "Assumption of Virgin Mary" in Borzești) is an Orthodox church located in

Onești Onești (; ), formerly known as Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, is a city in Bacău County, Romania, with a population of 34,005 inhabitants as of 2021. It is situated in the historical region of Moldavia. Administratively, the villages of Slobozia an ...

Bacău County Bacău County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania. Geography This county has a total area of . In the western part of the county there a ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It was founded by

Ştefan cel Mare Stephen III, better known as Stephen the Great (; ; died 2 July 1504), was Voivode (or Prince) of Moldavia from 1457 to 1504. He was the son of and co-ruler with Bogdan II, who was murdered in 1451 in a conspiracy organized by his brother an ...

(Stephen the Great), with construction lasting from July 9, 1493, to October 12, 1494.

founded the church with his first-born son

Alexandru Alexandru is the Romanian form of the name Alexander. Common diminutives are Alecu, Alex, and Sandu. Origin Etymologically, the name is derived from the Greek "Αλέξανδρος" (Aléxandros), meaning "defending men" or "protector of m ...

, and the church was dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The church is said to also be in memory of a childhood friend of Ştefan killed during the invasions of the

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

. Legends say that the friend died under an oak tree where the church now stands.

Architecture

The church is designed in a mix of Moldavian, Gothic, and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

styles. The buildings plan is rectangular with one rounded side, vaulted with four spherical domes, and lacks a spire. The domes are Byzantine inspired and lay on Moldavian arches. The façades contain brick, stone, glazed ceramics, and are decorated with niches. Brick belts surround the building from top to bottom. The church is built mostly out of river stone and bricks and resembles other churches of its time. The church has one door which points to the southwest. The door and the windows were carved in a gothic style. The churches mainly Moldavian style resembles that of the Războieni Monastery and the Piatra Neamţ Church. The walls of the church are covered in murals, and they were restored in 2004.

References

Churches established by Stephen the Great Medieval architecture Buildings and structures completed in 1494 Churches completed in the 1490s Romanian Orthodox churches in Romania Historic monuments in Bacău County {{Romania-church-stub