The oldest orthodox church preserved in Moldavia dates back from the 2nd half of the XIVth century. It was erected as a Romanesque structure comprising a longitudinal composition with a nave and 2 aisles ending in an altar apse. In order to adapt the traditional Romanesque catholic inner space to the requirements of the orthodox cult a partition was introduced to split the 5 bays between the 2 main rooms of the orthodox church: the Naos and the Pronaos. In the XVIth century a exonarthex was built towards the West and the entrances where diverted from the East-West axis towards North and South for climatic protection reasons.