It is with great pleasure that I welcome the establishment of the “Association of the Friends of the Greek Church of Bucharest”. It follows the example of a distinguished tradition of Greek benefactors. I hope that the Association will be supported by the whole Greek Community in Romania.

The Greek Community of Bucharest, since its initial foundation, wished to construct a Greek Church in the city. On the 15th of May 1883, at the residence of the Greek Ambassador Dragoumis, an assembly of prestigious Greek expatriates in Romania was held and a committee for this great plan was founded. The efforts continued, after some years, by the Ambassadors Douroutis and Paparrigopoulos.

In 1890, the members of the Greek Community established the association “Evangelismos”, of 400 members aiming at collecting the necessary funds for the construction of the Greek Church. The main donor of the church was Panagis Charokopos, a Greek expatriate from Kefallonia.

The construction works of the Greek Church started in 1899, based on a design of the renowned German architect Lardel. The church is designed in a unique style that does not resemble with any other. It is a three aisles Basilica that externally appears as an Ionian temple with a gable roof. The church’s ashlar masonry has been constructed by the famous sculptor Nikolaos Halepas (brother of Yannoulis Halepas). The liturgical pottery was offered by the Greek donor Grigorios Maraslis from Odessa. Nina Haita and Cleopatra Xenokratous-Kyriazi donated the crystal Venetian chandelier, while Hristofis Zerlentis donated the bronze gold-plated chandelier. The icon painters Konstantinos Livadas Liokis and S. Apostolou were responsible for the mural painting of the church; the artists applied the technique of oil painting of the School of the Nazarene.

On the 25th of March 1901, following the foundation of the Greek Church, the first service was held by Archimandrite Nikodimos Oikonomou, in the presence of the Greek Ambassador Argyropoulos. Plenty of people participated. The citizens of Bucharest considered the church as a monument of architecture. King Carol I of Romania visited the Greek Church and expressed his admiration for the glorious temple that adorned the Romanian capital.

The Greek Church of “Evangelismos” was open to the Greeks of Bucharest for a long period, offering important spiritual refuge. Father Timotheos Evaggelinidis, Father Konstantinos Moraitakis and other renown priests served at the church.

Nowadays, the Greek Church continues to attract the Greeks of Bucharest, a community that is significantly growing. In 1999, the temple was fully restored at the expense of Dimitrios and Eleni Grigoriadis, the eminent donors from Thessaloniki. A part of the mural painting of the church was re-created by Sergiu Petrescu, Professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Bucharest.

The year 2017 is also a landmark for the history of the church, since the “Association of the Friends of the Greek Church of Bucharest” was established. The purpose of the Association is to continuously support the historic Greek Church, so that it always remains a monument of the Hellenic presence in Bucharest.

Esteemed Ladies, Esteemed Gentlemen, I urge you to support the efforts of the “Association of the Friends of the Greek Church of Bucharest”. Each one of us can contribute to sustain our Church and to promote our Community, exactly as our compatriots have done in the past.

The Ambassador

Vassilis Papadopoulos