Saint Sabbas Church, Iași
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Saint Sabbas Church ( ro, Biserica Sfântul Sava) 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 44 Costache Negri Street 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 Saint
Sabbas the Sanctified SabasPatrich (1995). (439–532), in Church parlance Saint Sabas or Sabbas the Sanctified ( el, Σάββας ο Ηγιασμένος), was a Cappadocian Greek monk, priest and saint, who was born in Cappadocia and lived mainly in Palaestina Prima. ...
.


Origins and rebuilding

The first church on the site was built soon after 1583, when Greek monks from
Mar Saba The Holy Lavra of Saint Sabbas, known in Arabic and Syriac as Mar Saba ( syr, ܕܝܪܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܣܒܐ, ar, دير مار سابا; he, מנזר מר סבא; el, Ἱερὰ Λαύρα τοῦ Ὁσίου Σάββα τοῦ Ἡγιασμέ ...
asked
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
Peter the Lame Peter VI the Lame ( ro, Petru Șchiopul; 1537 – 1 July 1594) was Prince of Moldavia from June 1574 to 23 November 1577.Constantin Rezachevici - ''Cronologia critică a domnilor din Țara Românească și Moldova a. 1324–1881'', Volumul I, Edi ...
for a plot of land where they could raise a church. Once their request was granted, the monks built a church dedicated to the
Dormition of the Mother of God The Dormition of the Mother of God is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches (except the East Syriac churches). It celebrates the "falling asleep" (death) of Mary the ''Theotokos'' ("Mother of ...
, along with cells, thus forming a monastery. Placed under the protection of Mar Saba, it acquired the Jerusalem monastery's name. It is believed that Peter contributed to building the church, given his appearance in a votive portrait and in prayers of commemoration. The clearest reference to the church comes in a letter written by
Michael the Brave Michael the Brave ( ro, Mihai Viteazul or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593 – 1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Transylvania (1599 – 1600). ...
in June 1600. Due to the monastery's wealth, the administration of Moldavian properties belonging to the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...
was located there until the 1863
secularization of monastic estates in Romania The law on the secularization of monastic estates in Romania was proposed in December 1863 by ''Domnitor'' Alexandru Ioan Cuza and approved by the Parliament of Romania. By its terms, the Romanian United Principalities (as the state was then know ...
. Narcis Constantin Axinte
History
at the Saint Sava parish site
Problems with the land on which it was built caused the first church to deteriorate rapidly, a process accelerated by the Tatar invasion of 1624. Another theory holds that the church burned in early April 1616, along with all but 600 of the city's 20,000 houses, in a fire caused by
Ștefan IX Tomșa Stefan Tomşa IX (or II), (? – after 1623) of Moldavia was Prince of Moldavia for two reigns, in 1611–1615 and in 1621–1623. His reigns were concurrent with the period of Romanian and Eastern European history known as the Moldavian Magnate ...
. Whatever the case, an entirely new church was built in 1625. Its ''
ktitor ''Ktetor'' ( el, κτήτωρ) or ''ktitor'' (; ka, ქტიტორი ''kt’it’ori''; ro, ctitor), meaning "founder", is a title given in the Middle Ages to the provider of funds for construction or reconstruction of an Eastern Orthodox ch ...
'' was ''
postelnic ''Postelnic'' (, plural: ''postelnici,'' from the Slavic ''postel'', "bed"; cf. Russian '' postelnichy'') was a historical rank traditionally held by boyars in Moldavia and Wallachia, roughly corresponding to the position of ''chamberlain''. It ...
'' Enache Caragea, of Greek origin and related to the regnant prince,
Radu Mihnea Radu Mihnea (1586 – 13 January 1626) was Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia between September 1601 and March 1602, and again between March and May 1611, September 1611 and August 1616, August 1620 and August 1623, and Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia ...
. He donated nearly twenty villages or parts of villages to the monastery, making it among Moldavia's wealthiest. Caragea died in 1632 and was given a lavish headstone inside the church, which does not survive. The bell tower was added at a later, undetermined date. There are three dedication plaques, one in Old Church Slavonic and two in Greek. The first surviving description is from
Paul of Aleppo Paul Za'im, known sometime also as Paul of Aleppo (Paul, Archdeacon of Aleppo) (1627–1669) was an Ottoman Syrian Orthodox clergyman and chronicler. Son of Patriarch Macarius III Ibn al-Za'im, Paul accompanied his father in his travels through ...
later in the 17th century.


17th and 18th centuries

In 1676-1678, Prince Antonie Ruset, a distant relative of Caragea's, rebuilt the surrounding wall, of which the eastern part still survives. Archaeological excavations carried out in 1976-1979 found that the original church was quite similar to the second one, that the newer one was built further to the north and that both were used as burial grounds including over 300 graves. Research also determined that the area was used for ceramic production from the 15th century until shortly after 1500, when a powerful fire destroyed the workshop. Caragea died without descendants, and by the mid-17th century, the monastery was in the hands of the noble Palade family, with several of its members being buried on the site through the 19th century. Three of their graves are in the vestibule; a fourth has an illegible inscription, but may belong to the architect Ianachi. It was the Palades who removed Caragea's grave, just as he had removed the graves of the 1583 founders. When the Peloponnesian archimandrite Grigore repaired the church in 1820, he left a plaque portraying himself as the sole ''ktitor''. Such historical amnesia had the approval of the church, which benefited from substantial contributions in exchange for allowing donors to claim the status of founders. Due to its importance, the monastery hosted various foreign visitors. These included Jerusalem Patriarchs Theophanes III (1617 and 1618), Nectarius (1664) and Dositheos II (1670 and 1673), as well as Antioch Patriarch
Macarios III Zaim Patriarch Macarius (or Makarios) III Ibn al-Za'im ( ar, مكاريوس الثالث بن الزعيم, Makāriyūs aṯ-Ṯāliṯ bin az-Zaʿīm; born Yousef Za'im, died 1672) was Patriarch of Antioch from 1647 to 1672. He led a period of blossom ...
(1653). In 1619, Neofit of Rhodes translated the Life of Saint Sabbas into vernacular Greek; his book was donated to the monastery. In 1714, during the reign of
Nicholas Mavrocordatos Nicholas Mavrocordatos ( el, Νικόλαος Μαυροκορδάτος, ro, Nicolae Mavrocordat; May 3, 1670September 3, 1730) was a Greek member of the Mavrocordatos family, Grand Dragoman to the Divan (1697), and consequently the first Pha ...
and upon the advice of Chrysanthus of Jerusalem, the Princely Academy of Iași opened on the site. A Slavonic and Romanian printing press as well as a library were also opened; in 1744,
Sylvester of Antioch Sylvester was Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch (1724–1766), the first patriarch after the Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized ...
arranged for printing in Greek and Arabic as well. After secularization, the library, which included over 800 volumes, was given to the recently established
university library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic librar ...
. Tradition holds that galleries existed beneath the church and were used in cases of need to hide locals' property and the monastery's valuables, and could even be used to hold liturgies. Large feasts were held for Saint Sabbas' day (December 5), both in people's houses and outside. Moreover, the Greek monks distributed gifts of objects and money every month to the poor and the sick. Andi Emanuel Mihalache
History
at the Iași County Cultural Office site


Later history and collections

After 1863, the monastery scaled back its cultural activities, although a school opened in the archimandrite's residence the following year. By 1877, this had become a girls' school, housed in a new building. The monastery was converted into a parish church after clergy reform in 1893. The parish closed in 1951 but reopened in 1958. The church features a two-room museum that includes 80 books from the 18th and 19th centuries and valuable religious objects such as a Polish-inscribed bell from 1570, an
aër The Aër ( el, Ἀήρ, lit. the "air"; modern Greek: Αέρας; Slavonic: ''Воздýхъ'', ''Vozdúkh'') is the largest and outermost of the veils covering the Chalice and Diskos (paten) in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catho ...
from 1842 with Greek writing, an 18th-century wool curtain sewn in Byzantine style, 19th-century vestments, icons and liturgical items. There is a large Slavonic Gospel book printed at Moscow in 1637 and coated in silver and gold at Iași in 1642. Coins, ceramics and jewelry unearthed in the 1970s are also kept there. A large icon of Saint
John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος; 14 September 407) was an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his homilies, preaching and public speaking, his denunciat ...
in the nave is from 1711. The Renaissance interior painting done in
fresco-secco Fresco-secco (or a secco or fresco finto) is a wall painting technique where pigments mixed with an organic binder and/or lime are applied onto a dry plaster. The paints used can e.g. be casein paint, tempera, oil paint, silicate mineral paint. I ...
in 1832, largely destroyed over time, was reworked in neo-Byzantine style from 2010 to 2013. The 19th-century iconostasis, featuring rich Baroque carvings, was restored in the same period. After Dancu Monastery was demolished in 1903, the relics of
Saint Tryphon Saint Tryphon, Triphon or Trifon may refer to: Saints *Tryphon of Campsada, 3rd-century saint *Tryphon of Constantinople, Patriarch of Constantinople (928–931) *Tryphon of Pechenga, 16th-century saint * Tryphon of Vyatka, 16th-century Russian sa ...
and Saint Marina were transferred to the church. 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, as are the nearby ruins and the protective wall.Lista Monumentelor Istorice 2010: Județul Iași
/ref> File:L'Eglise St. Sava.jpg, Early 20th century File:Iaşi , Charitable Social Institute „Diaconia“.jpg, Former girls' school, now a charitable institute File:RO, IS , Saint Sva Church 1.jpg, Entrance File:RO , IS ,"Saint Sava" Church 3.JPG, Detail


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabbas Historic monuments in Iași County Romanian Orthodox churches in Iași Churches completed in 1625