This place of worship was originally built in the Moldavian style, but on April 20, 1723, it was consumed by a violent fire. The fire broke out in some brickyards near the church and, favored by a strong wind, spread rapidly, reaching the princely courtyard in a short time. There are other sources that state that the fire started right inside the church.
The reconstruction of the church was carried out by members of the Balș family. Among those who rebuilt the place of worship are the original founder and his son, Lupu, who erected the stone walls and installed the roof cap. Initially, access to the church was through an open exonarthex located on the southern side. Traces of this entrance can still be seen today in the external stone masonry. Above the entrance was a niche with the icon of the patron saint, which is currently partially covered by a window. In 1781, a porch was added to the western side, above which a bell tower was built. With this modification, the main entrance was moved to the western side, and the old one was built over.
The maintenance of the church was ensured for a long time by the descendants of the Balș family. Although it was considered a branch of the “Sfântul Gheorghe” – Lozonschi Church, it benefited from a separate epitropy. Over the years, especially the rulers of the Mavrocordat family, offered various donations to the church.
In 1857, on the northern side of the narthex, an ossuary was built for the remains of the Balș family. The bones of the family’s ancestors, who had previously been in the graves in the cemetery surrounding the church, were moved to this place. In 1900, eight tombstones belonging to family members were brought from the cemetery and embedded in the interior walls of the porch. On the northern wall of the porch are the tombstones of Emanoil Balș (died 1812), Elena Rosetti (1798), Teodor Balș (1810) and Lupu Balș (1782). On the southern wall is a small stone with an erased inscription, alongside the tombstones of Ana Balș (1812), Iordache Balș (1812) and Pulcheria Balș (1794). Of the inscriptions, five are written in Romanian with Cyrillic characters, two are in Greek, and one stone has the text almost completely erased.
The Carrara marble slab associated with the crypt, decorated with architectural elements of classical Greek inspiration, was vandalized by an unknown person who detached the gilded metal letters. In 1902, Professor Dossios managed to read only a few fragments of the text: "...Gheorghe Balș, great Vestiar, hides this tomb...". Since the rest of the inscription could not be deciphered, the phrase "...and others whose names are no longer known..." was added to the list of people buried there.
Over time, the church was seriously damaged by fires and earthquakes. In 1897, it was restored on the initiative of the epitrope Mihail P. Balș (1847–1901), former deputy and vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies, and the works were carried out according to the plans of the architect Iancu Catargiu. Above the entrance there is an inscription that states: “The Church of Saint Demetrius, known as Balș, was built by Ioan Balș, the elder, in 1690, and was repaired again in 1897, with Mihail P. Balș as the epitrop, Iancu A. Catargiu as the architect, and Iancu Gh. Gafencu as the caretaker and invigilator.” At the same time, a white marble plaque was placed with the names of some of the deceased. However, some authors have ignored the inscription and incorrectly mentioned the year of the repairs, suggesting that they took place in 1901, under the leadership of Gheorghe Balș, or even “around 1903.”
After the destruction suffered during the Second World War, major repairs were carried out between 1948 and 1952. Subsequently, between 1994 and 1998, new renovation works took place during the ministry of priest Nicolae Sava, financed by parishioners' contributions. At that time, the iconostasis was restored and the entire church was repainted in neo-Byzantine fresco by the painter Stelian Onica (born in 1955), a university lecturer at the "Dumitru Stăniloae" Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Iași. The church was reconsecrated on October 26, 1998.
Among the church's heritage objects are two bells dating from 1690 and 1693, as well as the iconostasis made in the classical Baroque style, which dates back to around 1800.
Sursa: sfdumitrubals.mmb.ro
