Holy Trinity Church in Ghimbav

The Holy Trinity Church in Ghimbav is an Orthodox church on Strada Avram Iancu, in the town of Ghimbav, Brașov County. Listed as a historic monument, it serves the local Romanian Orthodox community, distinct from the Saxon community that built the fortified Evangelical church in the town centre. Ghimbav, known in German as Weidenbach, is first documented in 1342. The building of the Orthodox church is linked to the visit of Emperor Joseph II, who in June 1773 stopped in Ghimbav, in a house near the fortified church. At the request of a delegation of Orthodox Romanians, the emperor approved the building of an Orthodox place of worship in the town — a gesture reflecting the gradual easing of restrictions on Orthodox worship in Transylvania during the second half of the 18th century. The church was built in 1780 from rough stone and brick. The date 10 July 1780 is inscribed on the main stone at the foot of the Holy Table. Its construction was made possible by a donation from the Brașov merchant Ioan Boghici, a bookseller and book publisher, with the work carried out by the parishioners.