Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral, Giurgiu
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Dormition of the Theotokos
The Dormition of the Theotokos is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches which commemorates the "falling asleep" or death of the Theotokos , and her bodily resurrection before being taken up into heaven. It is celebrated on August 15 The Dormition...
Cathedral, Giurgiu , located at 12 Bucureşti Street, Giurgiu
Giurgiu
Giurgiu is the capital city of Giurgiu County, Romania, in the Greater Wallachia. It is situated amid mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Rousse on the opposite bank. Three small islands face the city, and a larger one shelters its port, Smarda...
, 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...
, is the seat of the 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...
Bishop of Giurgiu.
The building was initially a parish church; an 1859 inscription (written in Romanian Cyrillic
Romanian Cyrillic alphabet
The Romanian Cyrillic alphabet was used to write the Romanian language before 1860–1862, when it was officially replaced by a Latin-based Romanian alphabet. Cyrillic remained in occasional use until circa 1920...
) indicates that a church bearing the same name was built underground on the site in 1806, as the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
authorities would not allow churches to be built above ground. The present church was built from 1840-52. It has a basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
l plan, with spires above the nave and entrance, and is built of burnt brick with lime mortar on a stone foundation. These stones were taken from the walls of Giurgiu citadel; as noted in an 1832 document from General Kiselyov
Pavel Kiselyov
Count Pavel Dmitrievich Kiselyov or Kiseleff is generally regarded as the most brilliant Russian reformer during Nicholas I's generally conservative reign.- Early military career :...
giving his approval.
The cathedral is spacious, with Byzantine
Byzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. The empire gradually emerged as a distinct artistic and cultural entity from what is today referred to as the Roman Empire after AD 330, when the Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire east from Rome to...
forms: straight lines and semicircular arches, thick walls, square pillars, large windows and spherical spires. Built in a style characteristic of its time, it underwent significant changes in the first half of the 20th century. The large door at the main entrance was replaced with the smaller one still in use. A new roof was installed, and two wooden spires were replaced with reinforced concrete ones. Two tympana
Tympanum (architecture)
In architecture, a tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments. Most architectural styles include this element....
were built on the north and south sides to the right of the back spire, as were the frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
and architrave
Architrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...
beneath the cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
. In the interior, the choir balcony and ambon
Ambon (liturgy)
The Ambon or Ambo is a projection coming out from the soleas in an Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic church. The ambon stands directly in front of the Holy Doors...
were replaced and a wood floor was laid in the sanctuary. A granite floor was placed in the nave and, in the vestibule, above the stone base. A furnace and radiators were installed.
Then repainting began, as the old murals were deteriorating. In 1930 the bell-tower was repaired and the parish house built. Today's exterior paintings are the work of a Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
architect and engineer who in 1935 built the market stalls in Giurgiu's central square and the Tribunal in Alei Park. The initial interior painting was done in oil, in the decadent style of Gheorghe Tattarescu
Gheorghe Tattarescu
Gheorghe Tattarescu was a Moldavian-born Romanian painter and a pioneer of neoclassicism in his country's modern painting.-Early life and studies:...
, by the painter Nicolae Pitaru. The present murals, executed in thick tempera
Tempera
Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium . Tempera also refers to the paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the 1st centuries AD still exist...
in a neo-Byzantine style, were done by the painter Nicolae Stoica from 1939–59 and restored from 1989-2005 by Ion Drejoi, a student of his. The Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
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...
, dating to the 19th century, was painted in oil by Pitaru. Initially extending the length of the church, covering three apses and including a dozen large icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
s, it was reduced to its present dimensions in the summer of 1948.
During its existence, the cathedral has had a valuable collection of property donated by believers from Romania and abroad. For instance, an icon featuring the Holy Trinity was donated by the widow of the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n General Soimonov (killed at the Battle of Inkerman
Battle of Inkerman
The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on November 5, 1854 between the allied armies of Britain and France against the Imperial Russian Army. The battle broke the will of the Russian Army to defeat the allies in the field, and was followed by the Siege of Sevastopol...
) in honour and for the souls of her husband and his fallen comrades. Professional choirs have sung there.
Although not yet the seat of a bishop, the church was called a cathedral from early on. It is referred to as a cathedral in an 1856 letter from the Russian Consulate at Galaţi
Galati
Galați is a city and municipality in Romania, the capital of Galați County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, in the close vicinity of Brăila, Galați is the largest port and sea port on the Danube River and the second largest Romanian port....
to the 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 Secretariat of State regarding the donation of General Soimonov's widow. A 1935 document by Patriarch
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...
Miron Cristea
Miron Cristea
Miron Cristea, was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian cleric and politician....
also calls it a cathedral. It officially became a cathedral on 9 April 2006, when Ambrozie Meleacă was enthroned as the first bishop of the new Giurgiu Diocese. At the time, he received from Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
a small box containing relics of Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
; this was stolen the following year, while in 2008, the zinc roof was replaced with a copper one, the floors replaced and an entrance ramp installed.