The first church on the site, the city's oldest, has been speculated as existing during the reigns of
Peter and
Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria (
ca. 1185), of
Ivan Asen II (
ca. 1230) or of
Mircea I of Wallachia (
ca. 1400). Archaeological digs from 1888 suggest the presence of a church as early as the 8th or 9th centuries, while
Petre Constantinescu-Iași proposed that Mircea built the church to honor his victory at the
Battle of Rovine. However, the prevailing consensus is that it was built during the reign of
Barbu Craioveanu,
Ban of Craiova, in the 1490s. Dedicated to
Saint Demetrius, it was also known as
Băneasa, as the
ban Barbu was its
ktitor. The church received generous donations from succeeding bans and was located in the vicinity of their residences. It was attended by the great
boyars who lived nearby, also forming part of the city's defenses. Although Craiova was never surrounded by
city walls, it nevertheless had a defensive system of which churches and monasteries formed a part. They tended to be built to the south and southwest, the only realistic approaches for an enemy. Looking out from the church, one can see a line of observation points toward the
Vidin road and toward the
Jiu River crossing points near
Coşuna and
Jitianu monasteries. In 1731, the authorities of the
Habsburg monarchy then ruling Oltenia (the "
Banat of Craiova") decided on a plan to fortify the church and its surroundings, but the plan was abandoned due to the opposition of military commander
Francis Paul Anthony Wallis. Another of the church's historic names has been
Domnească ("Princely"), since its patrons the
Craiovești supplied several of the
Princes of
Wallachia, including
Neagoe Basarab (1512–1521),
Matei Basarab (1632–1654) and
Constantin Brâncoveanu (1688–1714). In 1651, Matei Basarab rebuilt the walls of the church. In 1657,
Macarius III Ibn al-Za'im,
Patriarch of Antioch, visited the church, accompanied by deacon
Paul of Aleppo. The latter recorded: "We were met at the entrance into Craiova by the Ban of Oltenia, boyars and ordinary people. They led us to the great church of stone walled by the recent Prince Matei and dedicated to Saint Demetrius, which closely resembles the
Princely Church. It is held up by four high pillars and has a bright and delightful appearance". For several centuries, the church lay near the heart of the city's life, given the buildings in its proximity: the bans' residence, the Austrian administration, the building where visiting princes would stay and the headquarters of the local
divan. Those who went to be judged by the divan usually took their oath in the church and signed its judicial decisions there. Often visited by the
Bishops of Râmnic, it gradually took on the character of a bishop's church. Over time, the building suffered damage, and was partly restored during the reign of Constantin Brâncoveanu. Flower-patterned stone borders and iron bars were added to the windows, as well as glass to the ground-level and cupola windows. (In general, Wallachian churches at the time had no glass in the windows.) By the early 19th century, the church was in a state of advanced degradation, many of its precious objects in private hands, and the bishops now using the
Madona Dudu Church. The
1838 earthquake caused severe damage. A number of attempts to repair the church proved fruitless, and it was shut down in 1849, nearly forgotten. ==Second church==