Metropolitan Cathedral, Iași

The Metropolitan Cathedral stands at 16 Bulevardul Ștefan cel Mare și Sfânt, in the centre of Iași, and is the cathedral of the Metropolis of Moldavia and Bukovina. It is dedicated to St Parascheva, the Presentation of the Lord and St George. Two earlier churches stood on the site: the White Church (fifteenth century) and the Church of the Presentation (seventeenth century). The founding act is the charter issued by Prince Ioniță Sandu Sturdza on 8 August 1826. The foundation stone was laid on 3 July 1833 by Metropolitan Veniamin Costache, to plans by the Viennese architects Gustav Freywald and Bucher, and in the later years the work was overseen by the architect Mihail Singurov; the main funding came from Prince Mihail Sturdza. On 23 May 1857 the central vault collapsed, and the building stood in ruins for several decades. Work resumed at the urging of Metropolitan Iosif Naniescu, with a new foundation stone laid on 15 April 1880. The architect Alexandru Orăscu redesigned the building: he dropped the great central dome, added two rows of massive pilasters with Corinthian capitals and kept the four corner towers. The interior painting, with more than 250 figures and scenes, was executed by Gheorghe Tattarescu and completed in July 1886. The cathedral was consecrated on 23 April 1887 in the presence of King Carol I and Queen Elisabeth. The building is 56.70 m long and 34.15 m wide, and its towers rise to 52.92 m. The style is neoclassical, drawing on the late Italian Renaissance, with Baroque decoration. The relics of St Parascheva, brought to Moldavia in 1641 by Prince Vasile Lupu and first kept at the Church of the Three Hierarchs, were moved to the cathedral in 1889; her feast falls on 14 October. The relics of Metropolitan Veniamin Costache are also kept here, and the Metropolitan Museum has occupied the basement since May 2016. The cathedral is a historic monument (LMI code IS-II-m-A-04069.01).