The Church of the Virgin Mary () is a

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

church located at 2 Roșiori Street in

Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...

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 is 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 ...

. The church was dedicated in the autumn of 1647. Located on the left bank of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, it was originally a monastery, built on the site of an earlier church with the same name. Conceived as a fortress, it was built by workers brought from

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

. Its ''

ktitor ''Ktetor'' () or ''ktitor'' (; ka, ქტიტორი ; ), meaning 'founder', is a title given in the Middle Ages to the provider of funds for construction or reconstruction of an Eastern Orthodox church or monastery, for the addition of icon ...

s'' were the

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The Sud-Est (development region), ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2021 Romanian ...

merchants Die and Șerbu, as well as the local trader Constantin Teodor. From the beginning, it was placed under the protection of the Athonite Vatopedi Monastery. While visiting in 1653, Paul of Aleppo noted its presence.Drăgoi and Marinescu, pp. 8-9 Over the ensuing two centuries, wars and robbers led to the church’s deterioration, such that by 1885, Bishop Melchisedec Ștefănescu, who had earlier served in Galați, wrote: “Today, the Precista Monastery has completely lost the appearance of a fortress. It has neither the surrounding wall, nor the magnificent bell tower, nor the three spires described by Paul of Aleppo, but only two. The Turks burned and looted it many times and turned it into a customs office, where they deposited the products they gathered from around the country, before taking them to Constantinople.” The church owes its current appearance to the thorough consolidation and renovation work that took place in 1954–1957. The

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

converted the church into a museum of feudal history and art during 1970, opening the following year. This closed in 1990, after the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...

. At that point, the building became a parish church, and was rededicated in 1994. 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, historical ...

by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.Lista Monumentelor Istorice 2010: Județul Galați

Notes

{{commonscat, Precista fortified church in Galați

References

*Eugen Drăgoi, Florin Marinescu
“Blestemul Jupânesei Dragolea”
in ''Danubius'', vol. XXXV, part 2/2017, pp. 7-19 Buildings and structures in Galați Historic monuments in Galați County Romanian Orthodox churches in Romania Churches completed in 1647 Fortified church buildings in Romania Former Christian monasteries in Romania History museums in Romania Art museums and galleries in Romania Defunct museums in Romania Museums established in 1971 Museums disestablished in 1990 1647 establishments in Romania 17th-century establishments in Moldavia