Sf. Apostoli Church (1636), one of the oldest preserved and most valuable religious patrimony in Bucharest, belongs to the reign of Matei Basarab (1632-1654), whose peaceful and flourishing era was a happy exception in those times when the invasions, internal struggles for power, fires and robberies were a common place. The church is most representative of 17th century ecclesiastical architecture.
Located on the right bank of the Dambovita river, in the central-west part of the city, the Sf Apostoli neighborhood is presently one of the city’s areas affected by the harsh transformations in the last years of communist regime, when extended demolitions were part of the urban planning intended to replace the old Bucharest with a new socialist-type city. Once the “heart” of the Sf Apostoli mahala (“mahala” coming from the Turkish “mahalle” is the name of the city’s old wards), Sf Apostoli church is both a vestige of the medieval city and a remnant of its lost neighborhood.