The church under the patronage The Dormition of the Mother of God

The church is located in the centre of the city and was built by the Prince Gheorghe Ștefan between 16541658. In 1864, along with the fire which burst out on Holy Wednesday, the wooden church was destroyed.

In the next year, it was rebuilt of stone and brick in the style of a basilica, having three towers.

Above the passage towards the pronaos, we can admire the scene of the Dormition of the Mother of God. In the middle of the cross-cut end, there is the Mother of God lain on a bed, dormant, the hands crossed on the chest.

At the head of the Mother of God, there is Saint Peter the Apostle. In the opposite part, there is Saint Paul the Apostle, looking at the Mother of God. Behind the bed, there is Jesus Christ, framed by angels and holy hierarchs.

Christ holds in His hands the soul of His Mother under the shape of a swaddled baby. Christ and the Mother of God – both Her body and soul – are represented as having halos; the angels are represented in the same way.

The Apostles and the hierarchs appear without halos with a view to highlighting the faces of the Saviour and of the Mother of God.

The representation of the soul of the Mother of God as a swaddled baby symbolizes the fact that the moment she died, Her spirit was born to a new life.