Cathedral of the Unity of the People, Alba Iulia
Encyclopedia
The Cathedral of the Unity of the People , dedicated to the Holy Trinity
and the Holy Archangels
Michael
and Gabriel
, is a Romanian Orthodox
cathedral located at 16 Mihai Viteazul Street, Alba Iulia
, Romania
. Built soon after and in commemoration of the Union of Transylvania with Romania
, it is the seat of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Alba Iulia.
near the Roman Plateau. It was thought of as a continuation of the former metropolitan seat at Alba Iulia (then called Bălgrad), where Michael the Brave built a stone church in 1597. When the citadel was rebuilt in its current form in 1713-1714, the Habsburg
authorities demolished this and its materials were used to build a new church near where the railway station is today. A wooden memorial church in the southeastern part of the citadel marks the site of the former metropolitan cathedral.
Built in 1921-1922, the cathedral was ready in time for the coronation of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie
as monarchs of Greater Romania
on October 15, 1922, and thus is sometimes known as the Coronation Cathedral (Catedrala Încoronării). This event, which took place in the same city where the Union of Transylvania with Romania
occurred on December 1, 1918, was meant to give the union added symbolic and religious weight.
and Petre Antonescu, incorporating traditional forms of Romanian architecture
, in particular the Brâncovenesc style
, and adapting them to modern tastes. The plan, an inscribed Greek cross, draws upon the Târgovişte Princely Church. Similarly, the exterior decorative elements, such as niches, beads about the column capitals
and arcades
, as well as the domes, resemble those found in Wallachia
n churches from the time of Matei Basarab
and Constantin Brâncoveanu
. The interior fresco painting, by Costin Petrescu and his apprentices, follows the dictates of traditional Byzantine
Orthodox icon
ography while exhibiting Western influences.
The entrance to the building has an open porch with large arches supported by columns with capitals. The portal is decorated with traditional motifs, and above it are mosaic icons of the archangels Michael
and Gabriel
, while one side of the entrance has icons of Saints Peter
and Paul and the other of Kings David
and Solomon
. The porch's niches have marble plates commemorating four events: Metropolitan Simion Ştefan printing the first Romanian-language New Testament
in 1648; the union of the three Romanian principalities achieved by Michael the Brave in 1600; the execution of Horea, Cloşca and Crişan
in 1785; and the merger of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church
into the Orthodox Church in 1948, an act forced by the new Communist regime
, supported at the time by the Orthodox Church but denounced as unlawful by Greek-Catholics.
One special feature are the paintings of historical figures or individuals who played a role in local religious life. Paintings of the ktitor
of the first metropolitan church in Bălgrad, Michael the Brave, and of his wife Lady Stanca appear in the narthex
. The tall nave is dominated by a cupola painted with the image of Christ Pantocrator
and held up by four octagonal columns coated in Moneasa marble. The western wall of the nave has paintings of clerics from the time when the cathedral was built: Nicolae Bălan, Metropolitan of Transylvania, and Miron Cristea
, Patriarch of All Romania
, as well as votive portraits of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie. The altar apse
is painted with the Theotokos
and scenes from the Bible
. There are three octagonal spires, each lighted by eight windows, with an onion dome
roof and a metal cross on top.
In front of the carved and painted oak iconostasis
and adjacent to the triumphal arch, there are large portraits of former Metropolitans of Transylvania Ilie Iorest and Sava Brancovici, as well as of the monks Visarion Sarai and Sofronie of Cioara
, and the martyr
Oprea Miclăuş of Sălişte
, all of whom were canonized
in the cathedral in 1955. A pair of thrones inscribed with royal symbols was placed beside the iconostasis during the solemn coronation service. In addition to the iconostasis, the furniture and choir are also oak and decorated with Brâncovenesc motifs.
The cathedral lies on a rectangular lot which has four pavilion
s, one in each corner, linked by galleries
that recall those found in monasteries, formed of open double arcades held up by columns. Some of the columns have Corinthian
capitals with Brâncovenesc touches. The larger, eastern pavilions house the archdiocesan residence and administration. The smaller, western ones are used by those who run the building and grounds. The 58 m-high bell tower, with the entrance to the complex beneath it, lies between the western pavilions. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Alba Iulia, which has held this rank since 1998, having previously been a diocese since 1975. The building was renovated in 1993, the 75th anniversary of the 1918 Union.
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
and the Holy Archangels
Archangel
An archangel is an angel of high rank. Archangels are found in a number of religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism and by most Christians. Michael is the only archangel specifically named in the Protestant Bible...
Michael
Michael (archangel)
Michael , Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; , Mikhaḗl; or Míchaël; , Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as Saint Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael...
and Gabriel
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an Archangel who typically serves as a messenger to humans from God.He first appears in the Book of Daniel, delivering explanations of Daniel's visions. In the Gospel of Luke Gabriel foretells the births of both John the Baptist and of Jesus...
, is a Romanian Orthodox
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
cathedral located at 16 Mihai Viteazul Street, Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. Built soon after and in commemoration of the Union of Transylvania with Romania
Union of Transylvania with Romania
Union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia.The national holiday of Romania, the Great Union Day occurring on December 1, commemorates this event...
, it is the seat of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Alba Iulia.
Background
The cathedral and surrounding buildings were raised in the western part of the Alba Iulia Citadel, on the site of a gatehouseGatehouse
A gatehouse, in architectural terminology, is a building enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a castle, manor house, fort, town or similar buildings of importance.-History:...
near the Roman Plateau. It was thought of as a continuation of the former metropolitan seat at Alba Iulia (then called Bălgrad), where Michael the Brave built a stone church in 1597. When the citadel was rebuilt in its current form in 1713-1714, the Habsburg
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
authorities demolished this and its materials were used to build a new church near where the railway station is today. A wooden memorial church in the southeastern part of the citadel marks the site of the former metropolitan cathedral.
Built in 1921-1922, the cathedral was ready in time for the coronation of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie
Marie of Romania
Marie of Romania was Queen consort of Romania from 1914 to 1927, as the wife of Ferdinand I of Romania.-Early life:...
as monarchs of Greater Romania
Greater Romania
The Greater Romania generally refers to the territory of Romania in the years between the First World War and the Second World War, the largest geographical extent of Romania up to that time and its largest peacetime extent ever ; more precisely, it refers to the territory of the Kingdom of...
on October 15, 1922, and thus is sometimes known as the Coronation Cathedral (Catedrala Încoronării). This event, which took place in the same city where the Union of Transylvania with Romania
Union of Transylvania with Romania
Union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia.The national holiday of Romania, the Great Union Day occurring on December 1, commemorates this event...
occurred on December 1, 1918, was meant to give the union added symbolic and religious weight.
Architecture
The cathedral forms part of a group of buildings erected beginning in the late 19th century in the national style promoted by Ion MincuIon Mincu
Ion Mincu was an architect, engineer, professor and politician in Romania.He promoted a Romanian style in architecture, by integrating in his works the specific style of traditional Romanian architecture...
and Petre Antonescu, incorporating traditional forms of Romanian architecture
Romanian architecture
-Pre-Modern styles:During the middle ages in Romania there were two types of construction that developed in parallel and different in point of both materials and technique...
, in particular the Brâncovenesc style
Brâncovenesc style
Is a type of architecture developed in Wallachia during the reign of Constantin Brâncoveanu in the 17th and 18th century.Examples of buildings with this style:*Horezu Monastery*Văcăreşti Monastery**Brâncoveanu Monastery*Surpatele Monastery...
, and adapting them to modern tastes. The plan, an inscribed Greek cross, draws upon the Târgovişte Princely Church. Similarly, the exterior decorative elements, such as niches, beads about the column capitals
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
and arcades
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
, as well as the domes, resemble those found in Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
n churches from the time of Matei Basarab
Matei Basarab
Matei Basarab was a Wallachian Voivode between 1632 and 1654.-Reign:Much of Matei's reign was spent fighting off incursions from Moldavia, which he successfully accomplished in 1637, 1639, and 1653 - see Battle of Finta...
and Constantin Brâncoveanu
Constantin Brâncoveanu
Constantin Brâncoveanu was Prince of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714.-Ascension:A descendant of the Craioveşti boyar family and related to Matei Basarab, Brâncoveanu was born at the estate of Brâncoveni and raised in the house of his uncle, stolnic Constantin Cantacuzino...
. The interior fresco painting, by Costin Petrescu and his apprentices, follows the dictates of traditional Byzantine
Byzantine art
Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 5th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453....
Orthodox icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
ography while exhibiting Western influences.
The entrance to the building has an open porch with large arches supported by columns with capitals. The portal is decorated with traditional motifs, and above it are mosaic icons of the archangels Michael
Michael (archangel)
Michael , Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; , Mikhaḗl; or Míchaël; , Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as Saint Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael...
and Gabriel
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an Archangel who typically serves as a messenger to humans from God.He first appears in the Book of Daniel, delivering explanations of Daniel's visions. In the Gospel of Luke Gabriel foretells the births of both John the Baptist and of Jesus...
, while one side of the entrance has icons of Saints Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
and Paul and the other of Kings David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
and Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
. The porch's niches have marble plates commemorating four events: Metropolitan Simion Ştefan printing the first Romanian-language New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
in 1648; the union of the three Romanian principalities achieved by Michael the Brave in 1600; the execution of Horea, Cloşca and Crişan
Revolt of Horea, Closca and Crisan
The Revolt of Horea, Cloșca and Crișan began in Zarand County, Transylvania, but it soon spread all throughout the Apuseni Mountains...
in 1785; and the merger of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church
Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic
The Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic is an Eastern Catholic Church which is in full union with the Roman Catholic Church. It is ranked as a Major Archiepiscopal Church and uses the Byzantine liturgical rite in the Romanian language....
into the Orthodox Church in 1948, an act forced by the new Communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, supported at the time by the Orthodox Church but denounced as unlawful by Greek-Catholics.
One special feature are the paintings of historical figures or individuals who played a role in local religious life. Paintings of the ktitor
Ktitor
A ktetor or ktitor is someone who provides the funds for construction or reconstruction of an Orthodox church or monastery, for the addition of icons, frescos, and other works of art. A Catholic equivalent of the term is a donator. The female form is ktetorissa or ktitorissa ....
of the first metropolitan church in Bălgrad, Michael the Brave, and of his wife Lady Stanca appear in the narthex
Narthex
The narthex of a church is the entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave, at the far end from the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper...
. The tall nave is dominated by a cupola painted with the image of Christ Pantocrator
Christ Pantocrator
In Christian iconography, Christ Pantokrator refers to a specific depiction of Christ. Pantocrator or Pantokrator is a translation of one of many Names of God in Judaism...
and held up by four octagonal columns coated in Moneasa marble. The western wall of the nave has paintings of clerics from the time when the cathedral was built: Nicolae Bălan, Metropolitan of Transylvania, and Miron Cristea
Miron Cristea
Miron Cristea, was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian cleric and politician....
, Patriarch of All Romania
Patriarch of All Romania
The Patriarch of All Romania is the title of the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church. As of September 12, 2007, the chair is occupied by Daniel Ciobotea.-Metropolitans of Ungro-Wallachia:* Maxim * Macarie II * Ilarion II...
, as well as votive portraits of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie. The altar apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
is painted with the Theotokos
Theotokos
Theotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
and scenes from the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. There are three octagonal spires, each lighted by eight windows, with an onion dome
Onion dome
An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles the onion, after which they are named. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the drum upon which they are set, and their height usually exceeds their width...
roof and a metal cross on top.
In front of the carved and painted oak iconostasis
Iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church...
and adjacent to the triumphal arch, there are large portraits of former Metropolitans of Transylvania Ilie Iorest and Sava Brancovici, as well as of the monks Visarion Sarai and Sofronie of Cioara
Sofronie of Cioara
Sofronie of Cioara is a Romanian Orthodox saint. He was an Eastern Orthodox monk who advocated for the freedom of worship of the Romanian population in Transylvania.-Early life:...
, and the martyr
Christian martyrs
A Christian martyr is one who is killed for following Christianity, through stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake or other forms of torture and capital punishment. The word "martyr" comes from the Greek word μάρτυς, mártys, which means "witness."...
Oprea Miclăuş of Sălişte
Saliste
Sălişte is a town in Sibiu County in the centre of Romania, 21 km west of the county capital, Sibiu, the main locality in the Mărginimea Sibiului area.-Geography:...
, all of whom were canonized
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
in the cathedral in 1955. A pair of thrones inscribed with royal symbols was placed beside the iconostasis during the solemn coronation service. In addition to the iconostasis, the furniture and choir are also oak and decorated with Brâncovenesc motifs.
The cathedral lies on a rectangular lot which has four pavilion
Pavilion
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
s, one in each corner, linked by galleries
Long gallery
Long gallery is an architectural term given to a long, narrow room, often with a high ceiling. In British architecture, long galleries were popular in Elizabethan and Jacobean houses. They were often located on the upper floor of the great houses of the time, and stretched across the entire...
that recall those found in monasteries, formed of open double arcades held up by columns. Some of the columns have Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
capitals with Brâncovenesc touches. The larger, eastern pavilions house the archdiocesan residence and administration. The smaller, western ones are used by those who run the building and grounds. The 58 m-high bell tower, with the entrance to the complex beneath it, lies between the western pavilions. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Alba Iulia, which has held this rank since 1998, having previously been a diocese since 1975. The building was renovated in 1993, the 75th anniversary of the 1918 Union.