Domnița Bălașa Church

Domnița (Princess) Bălașa, the sixth daughter of Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu, founded two adjacent churches near the banks of the Dâmbovița River and her home.

The first church, according to the pisanie, was built in 1743–1744, with Bălașa and her husband, High Ban Manolache Rangabé [ro] (called Lambrino) as ktetors.

Subsequently used as a chapel for the Lambrino family, it was weakened by the 1838 earthquake, repaired in 1842 and demolished in 1871, together with the nearby ktetors’ houses.

Larger, in Gothic Revival style, with domes, the frescoes reproduced the ones on the previous church; the painter's contract survives.

Alexandru Orăscu was the architect, assisted by Carol Benesch and Friedrich Hartmann; his plans were reviewed by Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ.

King Carol I and Queen Elisabeth attended the liturgy and cornerstone laying on June 14, 1881, three months after the Kingdom of Romania was proclaimed.

[1] When the couple attended, they would sit to the left of the altar on thrones carved with the royal coat of arms and the official motto Nihil sine Deo; these remain in place.

These rest on cylindrical columns of Albești stone, with sculpted capitals and pedestals; a set of stairs leads up to the portico.

[1] The facades have rows of yellow and red brick; the latter alternate with strips of plaster, forming a zigzag pattern.

The interior oil painting, in Renaissance Revival style, featuring large compositions on a sober background, was done by two Viennese artists.

The portraits of new ktetors were added subsequently: on the south wall, Patriarch Justinian Marina, responsible for the 1959–1962 renovation; Saint Calinic of Cernica [ro], canonized around this time; and on the north wall, Metropolitan Calinic, together with Saint Dimitrie Basarabov, added as a patron.