Biserica Foisor

The Foișor Church in Bucharest is an Orthodox church dedicated to the Nativity of Mary, located on Foișorului Street. It was founded in the 18th century by Smaranda, the third wife of Prince Nicholas Mavrocordatos, as a chapel for her estates. The name of the neighborhood and the church comes from a wooden bridge with a small tower that connected the houses to the Văcărești Monastery across marshy ground. The building has had an eventful history, including damage from an earthquake in 1838 and necessary repairs in the 19th century. Remarkably, in the 1980s the church was saved from the threat of demolition under Ceaușescu's dictatorship because it was deliberately left out of the city's redevelopment plans.

Architecturally, the church has a cruciform plan, with a large dome over the nave and a bell tower above the narthex. The facade shows features of the Brâncovenesc style, including a portal with floral motifs and an inscription bearing the coat of arms of Wallachia. While the exterior was altered in the 19th century, the interior preserves much of its original character. Visitors can admire a stone iconostasis from the 18th century, finely carved wooden furnishings, and portraits of the founders in the narthex. The churchyard also contains fragments of the old houses and historic stone crosses that recall the long tradition of the site.