The White Church of Baia
The White Church from Baia is, as the tradition confirms, Ştefan cel Mare’s foundation, from 14-15 December 1467, after the victory against Hungarian armies, lead by king Matei Corvin. It is situated at the north-western border of the village, to so-called zone of “Sasca Mică”.
The church is built in a rectangular plan, with raw and carved stone, great walls and a lot of other features of the time. The vaults and the steeple were rebuilt from brick during king Carol I’s reign. The lateral semicircular apses, are inscribe in the wall’s thickness. The brick steeple’s reconstruction has the shape of a prism, with eight sides. In the actual form, the church has been rebuilt between 1906 and1915. The arching system of naos is the one used in the architecture of the Moldavian churches. The building is called the White Church, because, in contradiction to the traditions of Moldova’s churches, it was not painted.
Legend has it that Ştefan cel Mare had set fir on the village, and a lot of soldiers from the Hungarian army died here. It is said that even Matei Corvin was wounded on his back in battle, with a three-tip arrow, and only because of the jumble, managed to escape guided by a betrayer from Moldavia, that helped him pass the mountains of Ardeal. It seems like the betrayer didn’t escape, and being caught, was enclosed in an old abandoned mine, near the village of Bogata (village included in Baia today), known as the pit of “Hârjap”. The legends also say that the key was put under the White Church’s altar.