Armenian Catholic Church of St Elisabeth, Dumbrăveni

The Armenian Catholic church of St Elisabeth stands in the centre of the town of Dumbrăveni, in the Târnava Mare valley in the north-east of Sibiu County. It is also known as the Armenian Cathedral, and is tied to the history of the Armenian community that gave the town its official name, Elisabetopol. The first Armenians settled on the estate of Prince Mihai Apafi I in 1671 and received privileges in 1696 from Mihai Apafi II. In 1733 Emperor Charles VI granted the settlement town privileges for its Armenian community and the name Elisabetopolis, and in 1746 Empress Maria Theresa confirmed the privilege and placed the Armenian church under the Catholic Bishopric of Alba Iulia. The first Armenian church had been built in an area prone to flooding. Work on the present church, of stone and brick, began in 1766, and it was consecrated in 1791. The church is a Baroque hall church with a façade dominated by two towers. The tower that had a Baroque cupola lost it in a storm in 1927, and it was never rebuilt, which gives the façade its present asymmetric look. The façade carries statues of the apostles Peter and Paul, made in 1780 by the sculptor Simon Hoffmayer, who also contributed to the late Baroque furnishings inside. The church is a category A historic monument, LMI code SB-II-m-A-12383, dated 1766-1791. Its exterior can be seen from the town's central square.