History
Stavropoleos church was erected in 1724, by Archimandrite Ioanichie, during the second reign of Prince Nicolae Mavrocordat in Wallachia (1719-1730). Ioanichie was born in the village of Ostanitza in the eparchy of Pogoniana in Epirus and he came to Wallachia from the Greek Monastery of Gura, which was a metoc [dependent monastery] of Pogoniana Metropolis.
Ioanichie erected the present church and the monastery within the precincts of his double-storey inn, which provided economic support to the monastery, a common practice at the time.
In 1726 Egumen Ioanichie was consecrated Metropolitan of Stavropoleos and exarch of the region of Caria. Since then the monastery he built has been named Stavropoleos after the name of the former metropolis.
The church is the only monument preserved of the initial buildings in the precincts of the monastery and inn, and it is considered one of the most representative monuments of post-Brancovan epoch.
The other buildings are the results of an extensive restoration and rebuilding project launched in 1897 according to the plans of architect Ion Mincu.
