The French Church of the Sacred Heart () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church located at 3 Gheorghe Demetriade Street,

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It is classified as a historic monument by the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs. In the spring of 1906, Monsignor Vladimir Ghika, working with Sister Elisabeta Pucci, whom he had called from

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, began work on a building for the

Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul The Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul (; abbreviated DC), commonly called the Daughters of Charity or Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, is a society of apostolic life for women within the Catholic Church. ...

on land donated by Maria Pâcleanu. In 1922, work began on the Saint Vincent de Paul Sanatorium, inside of which there was a chapel where masses were held until 1930. Additionally, there was a chapel in Pâcleanu's adjacent residence. In 1930, next to the sanatorium's eastern wall, the Daughters of Charity built the parish church, with the altar facing north.Neculai Ionescu-Ghinea and Lucia Stoica, ''Enciclopedia lăcașurilor de cult din București'', vol. II, p.59. Editura Universalia, Bucharest, 2005, . On November 12, 1946, the C. I. Parhon Endocrinology Institute was established in the building of the sanatorium. Thus, the area retained a charitable focus, but the church was closed in 1957, a decade into the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

; all charitable activity "by

superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...

s for the poor, orphans and the sick" had been outlawed. On rare occasions, services were held for foreign delegations passing through the country. On December 1, 1991, following the

collapse of Communism The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...

, the church was reopened, and the parish re-established. In 2004, fifty years after he died a political prisoner in

Jilava Prison Jilava Prison () is a prison located in Jilava, a village south of Bucharest, Romania. History The prison began as Fort 13, part of the fortifications of Bucharest built in the 1870s and 1880s. It served as an arms deposit and garrison until 1 ...

, a statue depicting Ghika was placed on a square near the church. As of 2009, the parish has nearly 2,000 members, and services are regularly held in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

, French, English,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

."București – Sacré Coeur (Biserica Franceză)"
at the site of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest The Archdiocese of Bucharest () is the Latin Church, Latin Metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Romania. Its cathedral episcopal see is Bucharest. Ioan Robu was the archbishop from 1990 until his retirement on 21 November 2019. He ...

The church is in the style of a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

, with three

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s preceded by a small vestibule. The central nave is wide and has a slightly vaulted ceiling. The others are lower, have flat ceilings, are 3 m wide and are each separated by four square-shaped pillars with

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

-style

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

s. An extension of the central nave, marked by an arch, features the

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

, which has stained-glass windows and a horizontal ceiling. The

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

is above the entry into the nave, and there is a small organ to the right of the entrance. Light comes in through large, rectangular windows adorned in stained glass with floral

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

motifs. The walls and ceilings are painted without decoration. Fourteen bas-relief panels on the walls depict the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

. The exterior is painted simply, in white. The roof has two slopes and is covered in terracotta tiles. Above the roof, behind the entrance facade, there is a small tower with square sides. This has four small, open three-lobed arches, and sharp-angled

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

s on each side. On top is a cross and a

Gallic rooster The Gallic rooster (, ) is a national symbol of France as a nation, as opposed to Marianne representing France as a state and its values: the Republic. A rooster, in a different pose, is also used as the symbol of the Wallonia and the French Co ...

. The vestibule is lower, also has a two-sloped roof, and a rounded door. It is located on the southern side before the main facade and provides entry into the church. On either side are two niches surrounded by multiple arches in relief.

Notes

{{coord, 44, 27, 35.56, N, 26, 5, 12.22, E, display=title Churches in Bucharest Historic monuments in Bucharest Roman Catholic churches completed in 1930 Art Nouveau architecture in Bucharest Art Nouveau church buildings 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Romania