Short History of Călmăţui Village Church

Călmăţui parish is within the rank of Covurlui, situated in the Lower Danube Archbishopric. According to some testimonies, this village took its name from the valley and the river Călmăţuiu.

The construction of the church has begun in the year 1826 and it was finished in the year 1865, according to the data we found in the church, together with painted portrait of Alexie Anastasiu (1801-1868), the founder of this church: ,, The founder of this holy place, built in the honor of the martyr Gheorghe, in the village of Brehoaia, by the owner of the estate, Alexe Anastasiu Jevalexi, from Ipiru, Zagora district, Capisovo village, having the age of 64 years when he finished the building, with the residence in this Moldavian Principality from 16 may 1826, in the Tecuci city. The works were finished on August 30^th 1865, in the days of his majesty Alexandru Ioan I, the ruler of Romanians”.

We can notice that until the year 1865, the village still had the name of the estate of a previous owner named Brehoiu. According to some sources the owner Alexie Anastasiu Jevalexi has bought the actual estate from Leon Vasiliu, which came originally from Nicoresti village.

Initially the church had also the patron saint The Great Martyr Saint George, as wished by Alexie Atanasiu. After its death, in the year 1868, the whole estate remains in the property of its nephew Dimitrie (Tache) Petre Anastasiu (1836-1900) with Greek origins and having the profession of lawyer, which will have the estate until the year 1900. According to its will, written on December 27^th 1897, he grants his properties to the Romanian Academy and also states that the patron saint of the church must be changed, thus being chosen a new patron saint, The Great Martyr Saint Dimitrie. Also, he requested that his name should be mentioned every year at the anniversary of the patron saint.

With the help of the gentlemen Dimitrie P. Anastasiu, the church of the village benefited from an important financial support. The Romanian Academy, the inheriting part of the whole property, had to take care of all the necessities of the church, the salaries of the priests, singers and paraclisier. With the fortune of Dimitrie (Tache) P. Anastasiu, the Romanian Academy founded the Foundation with the same name, by which the in the villages of Călmăţui and Ţigăneşti are opened two schools, the first one opened is a primary school, and the second one an agricultural school (The Agricultural School of the Academy). Near the first school mentioned there were also built other annexes that will be used as hostel for children that are not from the village. Also using its will it was established that any child that has good results in school must be aided financially and even guided towards universities.

It is dignified to mention that in the period in which he was the prefect of Tecuci City, between the years 1877-1878 and 1881-1891, he did notable things, remarked in the written press of the time: „he started and finalized the works for the roads from Tecuci, last year he finished a nice building for the boys school no. 1, and now it is erected a new building for the boys school on the spot donated by Mr. Tache Anastasiu, the building of the girls school is erected now, the justice palace with a big hall for the juries Court was finished two years ago, the Mayor’s Hall with its upper floor for receving guests is finished, a nice theater was erected in Tecuci which serves also as an exposition hall, an observation tower, and the villages were given school buidings” (v. Vocea Covurluiului newspaper, year XII, no. 2.486, from July 4^th 1884, page two, article entitled ,,Tecuci Pasha“). In the end of the article the writer A. Radu, draws the conclusion according to which there is no other prefect that accomplished so much in such a short period, and the Minister Brătianu would need 30 pashaliks as the one in Tecuci, in order for the country to prosper.

Regarding Dimitrie (Tache) P. Anastasiu, the academician Petre Poni said: ,,the unanimous gratefulness feelings of the whole academy in the memory of Tache Anastasiu, which by its will accomplishes two great things: he takes care of the education of the people and on the other hand he takes care of our general knowledge.“

We would also like to remember the wife of Dimitrie P. Anastasiu, Elena (the daughter of Elena and Ioan Roşu from Focşani), that as the holy empress Elena has lit the flame of faith in the soul of her son, the Emperor Constantin, in the same manner Elena Anastasiu has lit the flame of philanthropy in the soul of her husband. She continued the charity actions after her husband died; her merits were officially recognized in the year 1910 by the Romanian Academy by offering her the “Golden Medal”. We found out from the characterization of the dramatist Victor Ion Popa (born in 1985 in Călmăţui) the philanthropic nature of Elena Anastasiu: „she was a slim, agile woman, intelligent, affable, with a rare kindness and an extreme fondness…Often I was offered the occasion to see her visiting the neighborhoods of the city, going from door to door and offering the poorer families money before Christmas and Easter, together with encouraging words, raising the morale of the poorer people. She contributed with money to the marriages of many daughters of Tecuci, she granted scholarships for a number of students in order to continue their studies. ”

As gratitude, the Romanian Academy made in the yard of the church, in the northern part, a tomb in white marble with a black cross in Carara marble with a height of 4.5 meters, which is present even today.

Dimitrie (Tache) P. Anastasiu remained in the memory of the followers as a great man, a great philanthropist of old times, who took care of the people who adopted him building out of his own money two schools in Tecuci and taking care of the spiritual life of the villagers.

Subsequently, each year, on the celebration of Great Martyr Saint Dimitrie, the priests and the villagers, always accompanied by representatives of Spiru Haret High School (ex Tache Anastasiu) from Tecuci, raise memorial prayers for the founders and praise their founding deeds.