The St. Nicholas Church of Făgăraș

The St. Nicholas Church in Făgăraș is the most important Transylvanian foundation of ruler Constantin Brâncoveanu and the oldest place of worship in the city, the second oldest historical monument after Cetatea Făgăraș. It was built between 17 June 1697 and 30 September 1698, from the ground up and at the ruler's own expense, at the request of the Orthodox inhabitants of Făgăraș, who had been left without a church after their previous place of worship had burned down. As early as 1694, Brâncoveanu had obtained the approval of the Prince of Transylvania, Mihail Apafi II, for its construction. The votive inscription, carved in stone above the entrance, preserves the coat of arms of Wallachia and the year of construction, 1698. The architecture follows the model of the chapel of the Brâncovenesc palace at Mogoșoaia, with an elongated rectangular plan divided into a porch, narthex, nave and altar; the apse is polygonal on the exterior and semicircular on the interior, and above the narthex rises an octagonal bell tower. The paintings of the nave and altar were executed by the painter Preda from Câmpulung, with the frescoes dating from 1721. In 1723 the church was forcibly taken over and handed to the Greek Catholics, serving as a Greek Catholic parish between 1737 and 1948; bishops Ioan Pataki and Inochentie Micu Klein served here. It is considered the only Brâncovenesc foundation in Transylvania preserved in its entirety, without any alterations to its architectural structure, a fact that gives it particular documentary value for Brâncovenesc art as it developed beyond the borders of Muntenia. A Class A historical monument, the building is located in the municipality of Făgăraș, Brașov County.