Zlătari Church

18th-century church holding the preserved arm of Saint Cyprian

Address Calea Victoriei 12, Bucharest

A small 17th-century Orthodox church on Calea Victoriei, tucked between modern bank buildings opposite the National History Museum. It was rebuilt in 1850 in a slightly Russian Revival style. The interior is intimate, the icons gilded, and the atmosphere quietly intense — Zlătari is one of the few churches in Bucharest where you regularly encounter people in active, hushed prayer.

The reason is the relic kept in a side chapel: the preserved arm of Saint Cyprian, believed to have the power to lift curses. Long queues form at certain points in the year for the priest to bless visitors with the relic. Even without the queue, the church is worth a few minutes' visit while walking down Calea Victoriei.

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A story
The church preserves the silver-cased arm of Saint Cyprian, a third-century Antiochene sorcerer turned bishop. Romanian Orthodox believers come from across the country for special services in which the relic is touched to their foreheads, in the conviction that it can lift curses and break spells cast upon them.

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