Bărboi Church is one of the oldest and most impressive places of worship in Iași. Its history is closely linked to the Sturdza family.
The Bărboi nomenclature comes from the great vornic Ioan Ursu Bărboi, a descendant of the Strudza family who came from Maramureș at the beginning of the 17th century and settled in Iași. A place of prayer was originally erected on the site of the church today. Soon the church complex was transformed into a monastery, which was dedicated to the monks and priests of the Vatoped Monastery on Mount Athos.
The church withstood natural disasters and numerous fires for 160 years, but the beginning of the 19th century found the place in danger of collapse, which is why Bărboi's descendants, such as Ioniță Sandu Sturdza, Elena Sturdza, Teodor Balș, and others from the Sturdza family, together with Metropolitan Gregory of Irinopoleos, decided to completely rebuild the building.
Built according to the plans of the Greek architect Andrei Karidis and with the cooperation of Atanasie and Gheorghe, builders from the province of Sisanion, the new church was built during the reign of Mihail Sturdza between 1841-1844. The outer rectangular shape is given by the stone blocks that alternate with rows of bricks forming semicircular apses that give the appearance of a Greek cross on the inside.
Bărboi Monastery has five towers, the largest being in the central position, the others being in the extreme corners of the building. The interior is considered original, characterized by the harmony between the arches, unique in Southern Europe. Carara marble is widely used in interior design such as pillars, the floor or the mausoleum built by Alexandra M. Strudza rest. The icons are in Renaissance style, life-size, and the iconostasis is made of lime wood carved in the original Baroque style and polished with gold.
Bărboi Church has been, over time, an Institute for Girls' Education, the Cultural League, the "Casa Românească" Library (founded by Nicolae Iorga) or the "Frăția Ortodoxă" Association. The writer Ion Creangă lived in the church complex for a while, as did Valeriu Iordăchescu or the Cicerone brothers.
