St Nicholas Church in Șchei

About St Nicholas Church in Șchei

At a glance: Monasteries and churches in Brașov, Brașov County. The visit takes 45 min. Information verified on 8 October 2026.

On Piața Unirii, in the Șchei district at the foot of Mount Tâmpa, stands the church that the people of Brașov have long called the cathedral of the Romanians of the Burzenland. Local chronicles mention a wooden cross on this spot in 1292, and a bull of Pope Boniface IX from 1399 shows that an Orthodox community resisting conversion lived around it. Excavations in 1969–1975 found traces of three successive churches, the first of them wooden.

The stone church was begun in 1495 by Vlad the Monk, a prince of Wallachia then in exile in Brașov, and completed in 1519 with money and masons sent by Neagoe Basarab. The porch followed in 1584 with the support of Petru Cercel, and the bell tower and the first paintings in 1595–1597, paid for by Aron Vodă of Moldavia. Then came the Annunciation chapel (1733–1734), the Ascension chapel (1750–1752) and, in 1751, the clock tower on the west side, funded by gifts from Empress Elizabeth of Russia. All these stages produced a Gothic building dressed in Baroque, with a large tower framed by four turrets.

The church was the centre of Romanian life in Brașov: the Romanian school worked in its courtyard (today the First Romanian School museum, which has its own page), the deacon Coresi produced his printed books here, and the parish supported the Society of the Juni and the founding of the Romanian secondary school in 1851.

Good to know before you go

Getting there

By car: Brașov is ~170 km from Bucharest on the DN1 (~3 hours, with heavy traffic in the Prahova Valley at weekends), ~145 km from Sibiu on the DN1 (~2.5 hours) and ~270 km from Cluj-Napoca on the DN1 via Sibiu. The church is on Piața Unirii in Șchei, ~900 m south-west of Piața Sfatului: on foot it takes 12–15 minutes along Strada Prundului, through the Șchei Gate.

Public transport: Brașov railway station has direct trains from Bucharest, Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca and other major cities; from outside the station, RAT Brașov buses run to the centre (Livada Poștei stop), from where you walk through Piața Sfatului and the Șchei Gate.

Where to park

There are few parking spaces around Piața Unirii and in the narrow streets of Șchei. Parking in the historic centre is paid; the easiest option is to leave the car in a public car park in the centre and walk up from Piața Sfatului.

Fees & discounts

The parish does not publish an entrance fee for the church. The First Romanian School museum, in the churchyard, has a separate ticket.

Rules

Modest dress, as in any Orthodox church: shoulders and knees covered. During services, do not walk around the church or take photos; the churchyard cemetery is a place of quiet reflection.

Facilities

First Romanian School museum in the churchyard · candle-lighting shelter in the courtyard