Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Cluj-Napoca

The Cathedral of the Transfiguration, also known as the Minorite Church, stands at 10 Bulevardul Eroilor in central Cluj, between Piața Unirii and Piața Avram Iancu. It is the cathedral of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Cluj-Gherla. The church was built in the Baroque style between 1775 and 1779 by the Roman Catholic order of Minorites (Conventual Franciscans), designed and built by the master builder Franz Kirtner with money donated by Empress Maria Theresa. Because of a construction error, the tower collapsed on 22 September 1779; the tower and façade were rebuilt three years later under the architect Johann Eberhard Blaumann. In 1924 the Holy See gave the church to the Romanian Church United with Rome, and the eparchy's see actually moved from Gherla to Cluj in 1930; Bishop Iuliu Hossu adapted the interior to the Byzantine rite, adding an iconostasis. After the Greek Catholic Church was banned in 1948, the building was given to the Orthodox Church and was returned to the Greek Catholic eparchy only in 1998, after an eight-year lawsuit. The church is 44.25 m long, 15.44 m wide and 28 m high. On the façade, the entrance projects in a strong outward-curving bay framed by pilasters with Doric capitals. The ceiling frescoes were painted in 1908 by Ferenc Lohr and restored in 1968 by Coriolan Munteanu, and the 19th-century stained-glass windows show saints connected with the Franciscan order. The building of the former Minorite friary stands next to the church. The church of the Minorite friary, today the Greek Catholic cathedral, is a historic monument, LMI code CJ-II-m-B-07324.01, part of the "Minorite Friary" ensemble (CJ-II-a-B-07324). Did you know that a Latin chronogram is written on the frieze below the attic of the tower? The capital letters, read as Roman numerals, give the year 1782, and the text says that the tower, fallen into ruin, was rebuilt through the gift of Empress Maria Theresa.