“Saint Ilie” church

În anul 1820 a fost fondată de către Constantin, Mihail, Dimitrie Cernătescu, Dumitru şi Ioan Opran biserica ce a fost finalizată în anul 1827. Pictura originală s-a păstrat până astăzi, în ciuda anilor mulți care au trecut peste ea.  Legenda ridicării ei pe locul pe care se află în prezent este foarte veche. Se spune că vechiul sat, aflat la vreo trei kilometri peste deal, în zona numită Treștenic, se afla o bisericuță din lemn. Ea a fost incendiată de către turci, iar vântul a luat o bucată din locașul de cult și a adus-o pe locul unde a fost ridicată actuala biserică. Această bucată de lemn se află acum – împreună cu alte obiecte care vorbesc de trecutul oamenilor acestor locuri – în Cula Cernătești, alt locaș încărcat de istorie.

The "St. Nicholas" Church - Ungureni is a historical monument representative of the local cultural heritage, registered in the List of Historical Monuments 2015 of Dolj County at no. 207, code DJ-II-m-B-08017, with the name " St. Nicholas " Church - Ungureni, Craiova municipality, Dolj county, dating the end of the XVIIIth century, ref. 1774-1780. The church is located in the southern part of the city, at the intersection between Calea Caracălului and Ana Ipătescu Street, near the Ungureni cemetery, not far from Romanescu Park. It is over 200 years old, being built around 1774-1780, on the site of an old wooden church.   Once upon a time, in the area near the church, the persecuted shepherds from Transylvania came to sell their sheep to the slaughterhouses in the area. At the southern edge of the fortress, a real tannery was born, being the most sought after place for those who wanted to buy sheepskin. The stream that crossed the area took the name of the Tăbăcarilor stream, and the slum became Ungureni, after the groups of Transylvanian shepherds who came down here with their flocks. The names of the Ungureni church and the cemetery next to it have a common history, there are unwritten arguments that link them to the identity of a shepherd who stopped here with his flocks. According to a local legend, the Transylvanian shepherd (Ungureanul, as he was known by the locals) stopped with his flocks at the edge of the fortress. He was the first of the shepherds to settle in this area. Feeling the need for a place where his knees could bow for prayer, Ungureanul shepherd would have built here, at his own expense, a beautiful wooden church, the inscription clearly showing this: “Because of foreign bondage, the shepherd fled on roads known only to him, he arrived here and as a gratitude he built this church from the ground up. "The new foundation was dedicated to" Saint Nicholas ", but according to legend, everyone knows it as Ungureni, "of the Ungurean" or "of the Ungurel". "St. Nicholas" Church is a relatively large building, taking into account the period in which it was built: 20.85 m long by 11.88 m wide next to the narthex. The ship-type building, without apses, but with an addition that houses an interior staircase that provides access to the former bell tower, is typically divided into an Orthodox church, with an open porch, narthex, nave and altar. The rectangular porch has to the west an arch with five beams with arches in the center, supported on six masonry brick columns full dating back long ago. On the northern and southern sides it has a bay, with a column engaged in masonry. The vault is made with two domes supported by a median arch and two "port-a-faux" side arches. The rectangular narthex, arranged transversely to the church, has internal dimensions of 6.42 x 4.27 m and a maximum free height of 7.20 m in key, the vault being a dome supported by four "port-a-faux" arches equal two by two. The bell tower above the narthex has a square plan, being provided on all four sides with large gaps closed with "abat-son" carpentry. The nave, having the shape of a central square, has two windows to the north and south and is covered with a generous dome supported by four wide arches, of small proportions, marked in plan by four masonry legs attached to the walls. The elliptical altar inside is vaulted with an elliptical semi-dome, with a maximum turnkey height of 6.90 m. In the axis of the church is located the window hollow, and to the south there is an access door. The interior painting of the church is a fresco mural, made in 1864, executed by painters from the post-Brancoveanu era, the last intervention being that of 1984, when the tempera works from 1948-1950 were removed. The painting style is an astonished style: ascetic figures in very dark colors.   During 2018-2021, works were carried out to consolidate the historical monument, restoration and conservation works of architectural elements and interior mural painting, equipping / restoring the installations, as well as exterior works for the enhancement of the monument consisting of land systematization, landscaping alleys, green spaces and architectural lighting. The project "Consolidation, restoration and enhancement of the church" Saint Nicholas "- Ungureni", SMIS code: 119853, made it possible to render to the general public an objective of cultural heritage, namely the Church "St. Nicholas" - Ungureni, restored, preserved and properly arranged in order to perform adequate functions, compatible with the status of historical monument, so that it can fulfil its cultural, social and educational mission.

”The Archangel Saints” is one of the oldest churches in Oltenia. It was built at the beginning of the 16th century by the Radu, Stroe and Preda Buzescu brothers, captains in the army of Michael the Brave. Over time, the earthquakes left their mark on the building. The last major restoration work was made at the beginning of the last century at the expense of Gogu and Polina Vorvoreanu, whose residence was nearby. As a sign of gratitude, during the meeting of the Eparchial Council of Craiova Archdiocese, Metropolitan Nifon Criveanu established that the holy place should be named "The Church Gogu and Polina Vorvoreanu". Religious objects of an inestimable value can be found in the patrimony of this worship place. This include a beautiful collection of old, painted in oil and silver locked icons. A beautiful shrine was built in the church’s courtyard to honour the memory of those who suffered in the communist camps and prisons for the Orthodox faith. Text source: ziarullumina.ro

St. Nicholas Church in Calafat The church "St. Nicolae "in Calafat is an architectural monument, being one of the main religious places in the city on the Danube, alongside the " Assumption of the Virgin Mary "Church, the "Spring of Healing " Church and the" St. Martyr Gheorghe ", considered a monument. Situated in a central area of the city, midway between the Town Hall and the entrance to the harbour, the church has attracted many believers for over a hundred years. St. Nicholas Church in Calafat was built between 1730-1740. The Parish in which it fell had for a long time the name “The slum from the Hill” („Mahalaua din deal”). In ancient time, because of the constant Ottoman danger across the Danube, the church operated in the beginning in a cottage. It was later build, but still in the ground, walls. In the autumn of 1830, the church hosted at a Holy Liturgy the Serbian price Miloş Obrenovici, and Alexandru Ghica, the price of Wallachia. The eucharistic satisfaction brought to God was due to the conclusion of a convention at Poiana Mare, the domain of the Serbian price, known in history as "The Poiana Mare Salt Convention". This was the first written contract of Muntenia. The holy sanctum rose above the ground in 1853, when it was covered with ridge-tile. During the Crimean War, the reconstruction works were interrupted. Then resumed, they ended in 1856. In the period 1860-1861, by the care of a committee headed by the priest Matei Dobriceanu, with the help of Vâlcea Jivcov and Mihail Atanasiu, the construction was extended and raised. Five years later, on the initiative of the parish priest Petru Calafeteanu and the churchwardens D. Nicolescu and S. Mladenovici, benefiting from the support of the local authorities and the community, the church was given a dome, its iconostasis was changed and it was again painted. Towards the end of the century, the church was serviced by a parish priest, two supernumerary priests, three singers and two sacristans. In this status, the church was many times honoured by the presence of Price Carol I. The king passed here at the beginning of the Independence War, the headquarters of the Romanian Army being at Poiana Mare, in the Obrenovici pavilion. "The Independence Church" In 1905, the parish priest of St. Nicholas Church, priest Petru Calafeteanu, started a vain struggle for the “independence city” to have a cathedral worthy of the role it had in the history of the country. That year, under the mayor I. S. Drăgulescu, the timber market had moved from the front of the old church, some small buildings were demolished; so the surrounding area, merged with that of the Public Gardens had increased. In 1906, when the mayor of Calafat was Ion Ciupag, even the holy sanctum is being demolished. On the hearth of the old church, on March 20, 1906, the monumental building began to be built, following the plans of the architect Kafauniski, the works being led by the architect C. Anghelescu from the Plenita commune. The church was designed in the form of a cross, with a hemispherical cap, a narthex and two smaller turrets clogged in front, with a main apse and two lateral cap, the narthex with a hemispherical cap including the balcony. The porch was designed openly, supported on four columns that are at the end of a monumental staircase. The figurative painting and the painting of the dome were painted by Covaci. For the most part, the surface of the painting is covered with ornamental motifs foreign to our traditional style, in a tempera oil emulsion. The iconostasis is made of hewed limewood, and the 49 icons are pirogravated and slightly coloured in oil. The church was finished in 1910, when it was sanctified and brought into use during Bishop DD Ghenadie. For its expansion, a series of surroundings building had to be demolished, and the Public Garden would be widened in the greenfield left in the church’s perimeter. On the occasion of the excavations made for the reconstruction, many crosses of graves were found, probably remaining from the old cemetery near the holy place. Helped by the boyars and the philanthropists of the Calafat city The raising of the church was made entirely by private means, in order to raise the funds a committee of citizens, having as president Ilariu Marian, the son-in-law of Ionita Marincu (two in a road mayor of Calafat: 1891-1894 and 1898-1901) was formed. He gathered around him six of the great and wealthy landowners of Calafat, who decided to contribute each one with a year's income. Ilariu Marian, Ştefan Marincu, Dumitru Arssenie and Sima Năiculescu gave 10,000 lei, Vasile Mirica and I.S. Dragulescu, 5,000 lei. With the same amount contributed also Mari Faranga, the heiress of another great philanthropist - Gheorghe Giuroglu, whom the city thanked the 28-bed hospital, as well as Calafat Bank, whose president was Ştefan Marincu and Vice-President Dumitru Arssenie. Also, all the inhabitants of the city made their way to lifting the cathedral, either by working with their hands, or by power, contributing with money. Incorporated naturally in the public garden area, uninterrupted due to demolitions made to create a church building space, it required to be protected by a fence. On March 25, 1907, at he extraordinary meeting of the Local Council, the amount of 1,037 lei proposed by the mayor was approved, on the basis of the estimated sums elaborated by the architect engineer of the city, necessary for the fencing of the park. In 1908 and then in 1913, King Carol I, inspecting the Dorobanti Regiment 31, visited, as usually, the historical monument, and took part every time in the Te Deum liturgy in his honour, in the new and grand Cathedral of Independence, St. Nicholas. His face, together with the Prime Minister of the country, D.A. Sturdza, is painted on the walls of the church, above de main entrance. Worthy servants at the Altar of the Church of St. Nicholas Over the years, at this beautiful cathedral served priests like: Marin Petrescu, Petre Calafeteanu, Stefan Ionescu, Dumitru Rudareanu, Florea Pretorian, Antonie Căliman, Vartolomeu Gavrilescu, Vasile Marinş, Gheorghe Guţulescu. Today, at the Holy Altar serves priest Adrian Micu. Through out their labour, the church overcome the vicissitudes of time, which has imprinted on its body, whose paintings have deteriorated, requiring it to be restored to bring it into the initial state of profound aesthetic and emotional delight. Through the craftsmanship of the restorer Mircea Constantinescu, during 1988-1992, when the parish priest of the church was Vartolomeu Gavrilescu, this grate work of art was accomplished. A new and wonderful coat was given to the church, because of the external restoration performed during the priest Gheorghe Guţulescu during 2004-2005, with funds allocated from the local budget of the city, supplemented by voluntary contributions of the citizens of the parish. Place of worship and silence, the "St. Nicholas" Church, through its majesty and architectural grandeur, is one of Calafat's valuable adornments, a tourist attraction admired by all who pass through our locality. Sources: https://ziarullumina.ro/actualitate-religioasa/regionale/oltenia/biserica-sfantul-nicolae-din-calafat-111111.html https://audiotravelguide.ro/biserica-sfantul-nicolae-calafat/ http://www.monumenteoltenia.ro/biserica-sf-nicolae-calafat/

The Coral Temple The Jewish Community of Craiova, community with Mosaic religion members. The Coral Temple, built in 1832 (rebuilt in 1887), still exists today. sources: http://comunitateaevreilorcraiova.simplesite.com https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012526562445

Dedicated to: Holy Annunciation The liturgical program: Sunday and religious celebrations: 9.45 - Holy Liturgy Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 9.00 Litany Saturday: 9.30 - Holy Liturgy Events: October 13th of October 2008 - Sanctification of the new church in Craiova (bru.ro) 6th of July 2009 - The Holy Mother of Guadalupe a pilgrimage to Craiova (bru.ro) Jurisdiction: Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Bucharest Priest: Iulian Mladin Source: https://www.parohiigreco-catolice.ro/2015/05/parohia-greco-catolica-craiova-dolj.html

The Lutheran Evangelical Church (Augustan cult) is hosted in a historic architectural monument of local interest, located in the centre of Craiova, on Calea Unirii st, no. 13. The building is located near the Jean Mihail Palace (currently the Art Museum) and opposite to the National Bank of Romania - Dolj Branch. The current building dates back to the mid-nineteenth century, being built on the initiative of the archimandrite Sükei (Ciuche). According to an article published in the 29-30 issue for January-April 1927 of the Archives of Oltenia, entitled "About Protestantism in Wallachia", there were 61 Protestant families in Craiova, in 1838, the number of persons increasing to about 250 until July 1839. The majority of them was made up of different ethnicities of Protestants, especially English, Austrians, Prussians and Russians, settled in Craiova. Based on this statistic and according to a report issued by the "Church Affairs Department" and a request issued by the archimandrite, the prince of Wallachia - Alexandru Dimitrie Ghica Voivode approves in 1839 the construction of a protestant confession chapel in Craiova. The only condition imposed by the prince was that proselytes should not be accepted in this church. A certain architect named Lindhorst, built the present edifice in the second half of the nineteenth century (around 1870-1872). But, in 1861, the Evangelical Community of Craiova is transferred to the Prussian Office for Cults, the Prussian state being obliged to ensure the proper functioning of the school and the parish. Moreover, it is also evident from the archimandrite's correspondence that another evangelical/reformed church existed in Craiova earlier than the present one, without any knowledge of its location. In 1881, the Evangelical Confessional School was set up in the back of the church building. The pastor of the evangelical community, accompanied by three teachers, took care of the education of 131 students. This institution was active until 1945 when it was closed by the communist regime. The building is considered to be the oldest Protestant worship place in Oltenia, belonging to the neo-Renaissance style. In front of the building, up to the entrance gate, there is a long, tree-lined courtyard crossed by two lateral alleys leading to the church. Currently, the church hosts both the Evangelical-Lutheran community, comprising 34 parishioners as well as the reformed community. The religious services are provided by pastors of the Evangelical District Consistory in Sibiu on the first Sunday of the month and also on the occasion of religious holy days celebrations. Sources: http://www.monumenteoltenia.ro/biserica-evanghelica-luterana-craiova/ https://www.facebook.com/pg/MonumenteOltenia/photos/?tab=album&album_id=297033960438534

TThe Parish of St. Nicholas Church - Amaradia, with St. Nicholas and the Transfiguration as patron saints, was named in the past St. Nicholas - Belivaca, after the name of one of the founders. The name of St. Nicholas - Amaradia was given in 1950, after the name of the street and the neighborhood where the church is located. The church was established by Hristea Belivaca and Mihail Socolescu in 1794, on the location of an old church. The consolidation works carried out between 2010-2012 confirmed the fact that the present church stands on the foundations of another older one, having the same layout. It is highly possible that the previous church was seriously damaged during the March 26 / April 6, 1790 earthquake which might have ruined it. This is the reason why Belivaca and Socolescu had the initiative of restoring it and its nearby cells. Hristea Belivaca was a famous local merchant at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century, who traded cows, leather and cattle suet (1). He was born in Motoci village and was the brother of monk Clement, the abbot of Motru Monastery. Between 2010-2012, by Father Bonea Florin’s diligence, the entire historical monument has undergone an extensive restoration process, based on a project drawn up by architect Iulian Cămui. From an architectural point of view, the Belivaca Church keeps unaltered the post-brâncovenian style of the old churches of Oltenia and Wallachia, with a triconic plan, a porch opened on arches and brick columns. It is the first two open towers church in Oltenia. The original fresco painting dates back in 1794, being of remarkable historical and artistic value. From the artistic point of view, this painting includes, according to the Byzantine representations, the specific features of the post-brâncovean's painting, as well as the local traditions of the Oltenian painting school from the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century, with bright colors, rich floral elements, embossed aureole and gold-plated garments. It is among the few post-Byzantine paintings that can be found today in the churches - a monument from Craiova and the oldest fresco preserved entirely in a church in this city. The list with the name of the painters is painted on the wall, at the Prothesis: Marcu and Tudor. The pargets on the frontispiece, representing the Archangels Saints Michael and Gavriil as protectors of the entrance to the church (the earthly heaven), unique in an Orthodox church from this region, are of Baroque inspiration. Perhaps Belivaca, in his travelling as a merchant and carrier, had also visited the Catholic churches from Banat and Transylvania and wanted such unusual compositions for his establishment in the Traistari slum. Also important are the two outer nonreligious paintings on the southern facade of the church: an allegorical representation of death and an officer on a horseback. The impossibility of deciphering the original inscriptions and subsequent unfortunate interventions on the painting in which the officer is represented have left room for various theories, being subject to numerous historical documents and continuing to draw the attention of historians. Some scientists considered that the character was Tudor Vladimirescu himself, who was supposed to live for some time near the church, but others believe he is one of the church founders or donors. From the architectural point of view, St. Nicholas-Amaradia Church preserves the post-brâncovenian style of the old churches of Oltenia and Wallachia, with a triconic plan, a porch opened on arches and brick columns. It is the first two open towers church in Oltenia. Source: http://www.biserica-amaradia.ro

Titular saints: - Saint George the Great Martyr (April 23th) - Saint Evangelist Apostle Ioan (May 8th) - The veil of Virgin Mary- (October 1st) - Saint Hierarch Nicholas (December 6th) History: On this settlement, at the end of the XVIth century were located the vineyards of Michael the Brave. In the interwar period, the 8 hectares of vineyard belonged to the Potârcă family, the owner of a chain of restaurants in Craiova. 1950: The Potârcă family donates a part of the vineyards to the Church, and he sells the other part 1952: Metropolitan bishop Firmilian builds a small church, a bell tower, and a complex of buildings featuring a kitchen and two cells. The settlement functioned as a metropolitan chapel, with services taking place only during the period when the metropolitan was present, and on holidays in the rest of the time. 2005 Teofan, Archbishop of Craiova and Metropolitan Bishop of Oltenia gave his blessing for the establishment of a monastery in this place. The small church was rebuilt and they started to build also a larger church with a complex of outbuildings. Saint George the Great Martyr Monastery, former Orthodox monastery for monks (Hieromonk Grigorie Sandu), became a monastery for nuns, starting with October 1st 2010, with the blessing of Irineu Popa, Archbishop of Craiova and Metropolitan Bishop of Oltenia. Built on the vineyards of the Bishopric of Oltenia, it is also called the "The Vine Monastery ". It is also known as the "Airplanes Monastery", because it is located on the ring road that opens to the right at the entrance to Craiova on the Balş-Craiova route, a road that passes near the Craiova Airplane Factory. Source: http://msfgh.xhost.ro/index.htm http://www.mitropoliaolteniei.ro/?page_id=23560