The White Church ( ro, Biserica Albă) is a

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates i ...

church located at 3 Alba Road in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It is dedicated to the

Transfiguration of Jesus In the New Testament, the Transfiguration of Jesus is an event where Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant in glory upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels (, , ) describe it, and the Second Epistle of Peter also refers to it (). In these a ...

. The first church on the site, dedicated to the

Nativity of Jesus The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of Matthew, Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea (Roman ...

, was made of wooden beams varnished in white, which gave rise to the nickname. It was built before 1600 and first mentioned in 1682. Because guild members lived in the vicinity of the church at the time of its construction, it is believed to have been built by a guild. The new church was built in 1750 by Popa Velișco, and by the market-dealers' guild. The graves located around the church were transferred to

Eternitatea cemetery Eternitatea is the biggest cemetery in Iași, Romania. Notable interments * Vasile Adamachi, philanthropist * Petre Andrei, sociologist and politician * Dimitrie Anghel, poet and writer * Alexandru Bădărău, politician, academic, and journa ...

in 1887. Andi Emanuel Mihalache
History
at the Iași County Cultural Office site A restoration took place in 1885, during the reign of Metropolitan

Iosif Naniescu Iosif may refer to: People *Iosif Amusin, Soviet historian *Iosif Anisim, Romanian sprint canoer * Iosif Blaga, Romanian literary theorist and politician * Iosif Bobulescu, Romanian bishop *Iosif Capotă, Romanian anti-communist resistance fighte ...

, and was financed by parishioners and the city hall. In 1901, Naniescu re-blessed the church and conferred the new dedication, possibly given because of its changed appearance. Interior repairs were done in 1913 and exterior in 1959. In 1971, the structure was strengthened by adding reinforced concrete and fixing the roof. The interior was painted in fresco from 1974 to 1978.History
at the White Church site The original iconostasis was removed and taken to

Golia Monastery The Golia Monastery ( ro, Mănăstirea Golia) is a Romanian Orthodox monastery located in Iaşi, Romania. The monastery is listed in the National Register of Historic Monuments. In 2012, the conservation of the Monastery was awarded the European ...

for safekeeping; the current one was set up in 1978. A cross dedicated to the aviators who died in World War II was set up in the yard in 1975; there is a grave marker from the old cemetery in front of this, but only the year 1841 can be read. The church collection includes 41 icons donated by Zoița Aramă, who died in 1818. The church is listed as a

historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs,Lista Monumentelor Istorice 2010: Județul Iași
/ref> having received the designation in 1962. File:Biserica Alba wejście i ikona.jpg, Entrance File:Biserica Alba din Iasi7.jpg, Exterior dedication File:Biserica Alba din Iasi9.jpg, Interior dedication

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White Church, Iași Historic monuments in Iași County Romanian Orthodox churches in Iași Churches completed in 1750