The church was built up in the year 1846. The expenses associated with the construction of the church were made from the incomes of the domain Giurgiu – the domain on which it is situated the village Malu. This fact is recorded in the inscription dug on the wall from the church’s passage in which there lies written: “This Holy and God church, where it is honored and celebrated the titular saint of the Prophet Saint John the Baptist, it was built up again from the grounds with the expenses of the state from the domain Giurgiu, after finding the path of honesty, the usual gatherings – in the times of the Prince Gheorghe Dimitrie Bibescu, in the times of His Grace the Metropolitan Priest of all the Hungarian – Wallachia, Neofit the IInd, and as head of the Department of the Treasury being the great Logothete and Cavalier Iancu – Constantin Filipescu under whose wish and insistence there was made in the year of the Savior of the world 1846.” The inscription is written in the transition alphabet on the wall. The church was equipped by the state with all the necessary books. As soon as the church moved here, the inhabitants didn’t use anymore the old cemetery, but formed another one around the church. Today, this cemetery is no longer used, being unfitting for the laws of hygiene. The church has a rectangular shape with the part facing the east being round. It is built up only from bricks, it has only one tower which is also used as a bell tower.
This Holy Church has been painted in oil by the painter Paraipanopol from Giurgiu, through the perseverance of the Parish Priest Ilie Popescu, in the year 1911. The painting is in a Byzantine style with natural influence. In the year 1934 there was executed a third repair of the church, the painting being painted outside and washed. The paint was so badly done that it was necessary in 1939 to be painted again. On the old books of the church there are found very interesting notations concerning the history of the church and of the personnel who worked in this village. Some of these books date back to the old church (cabin).
It was completely restored on the exterior and in the interior in the years 1954 – 1958, the painting being redone by the painter Ion Dogărescu.
The history of the locality
The first establishments from the area of the village Malu were founded around the year 1445, on the territory of the district Giurgiu from the Ottoman Empire, being, at some time, the property of a wealthy Turk, under the name of Ismail Efendi. This territory has been re-ceded to Wallachia in 1829. In 1864, the territory has been organized in communes, therefore, at the end of the XIXth century, the commune Malu was part of the hundred Marginea of the county Vlașca and it was formed by the villages Malu de Jos and Malu de Sus. The commune had a church and it a mixed school with 83 students. The Socec Annual of 1925 records it in the hundred Danube of the same county, having 2383 inhabitants in the villages Malu and Guțu.
In 1950, it was transferred to the district Giurgiu from the area of Bucharest, the village Guțu disappearing in time. In 1968, the commune passed onto the village Ilfov, but it was dissolved and included in the commune Vedea. In 1981, a regional administrative reorganization led to the transfer of the commune Vedea to the county Giurgiu. The commune Malu was reinstated in 2003 in the current state.
