The Donation Act of Hagi Constantin Pop’s Family for the Annunciation Church in Sibiu

Abstract

This article presents an important document relating to the history of an Orthodox church in Sibiu (Biserica din Groapă), whose construction was possible due to the support provided by the family of the wealthy Macedonian-Romanian merchant Hagi Constantin Pop, at the beginning of the nineteenth century. After a thorough description of the document, we will provide both the German transcription and the English translation of the text. The notes and comments that accompany the document are meant to shed light upon the historical context in which the church was raised and to emphasize the importance of the document, which is the oldest one preserved in the archives of the Annunciation Church. The document mentions the gift of charity by the widow of Hagi Constantin Pop, whereby the land on which the church, its surrounding cemetery, the parish house, and the Romanian school were built would become the property of the Orthodox Church. Thus, the document presents the circumstances under which the patrimony of the foundation patronized by the members of Hagi Constantin Pop’s family was constituted. That foundation continued to administer the patrimony of the Annunciation Church until the establishment of the Communist regime in Romania.

Keywords

• orthodox church in the austro-hungarian empire
• biserica din groapă
• patronized church
• hagi constantin pop
• andrei șaguna
• kurrentschrift
• c&amp
• amp
• i honig