Biserica Sfantul Nicolae began as a wooden chapel in the 13th century, was rebuilt in stone after 1495 with funds from the Wallachian voivode Neagoe Basarab, and acquired its present Byzantine-Baroque silhouette in the 18th century. It was for centuries the principal Orthodox church of the Romanians excluded from the Saxon walled town next door.
The graveyard behind the church holds the tombs of several leading figures of the 19th-century Romanian national revival, including Nicolae Tellmann and Anton Pann. The small museum in the side rooms contains old liturgical manuscripts and silver. The First Romanian School building stands directly beside it.