Metropolitan Cathedral, Cluj-Napoca

The Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos stands on Avram Iancu Square in central Cluj-Napoca, about 600 metres east of Unirii Square, facing the National Theatre building. The initiative came from Bishop Nicolae Ivan, the first bishop of the Orthodox Bishopric of Cluj, who obtained financial support from the Directing Council in 1919 and, in 1920, the site of the park in front of the National Theatre. The design competition was won by the architects George Cristinel and Constantin Pomponiu, who also designed the Mărășești Mausoleum. Works began on 10 September 1923 and the foundation stone was laid on 7 October 1923, in the presence of Crown Prince Carol and Prime Minister Ion I. C. Brătianu. The cathedral was consecrated on 5 November 1933 by Patriarch Miron Cristea, Metropolitan Nicolae Bălan and Bishop Nicolae Ivan, in the presence of King Carol II and Prince Michael. It became an archiepiscopal cathedral in 1973 and since 2006 it has been the cathedral of the Metropolis of Cluj. The building is 44 metres long and 30 metres wide; the central tower reaches 64 metres, and the dome, 15 metres in diameter, rests on 18 carved stone columns and is surrounded by four smaller towers. Stone from Baciu and Banpotoc was used for the exterior. The interior murals were painted between 1928 and 1933 by Anastase Demian and Catul Bogdan, professors at the Cluj Academy of Fine Arts. The cathedral is open to worshippers and visitors, with respect for the services. The cathedral is a historic monument, LMI code CJ-II-m-B-07354, and belongs to the Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac and Cluj (Metropolis of Cluj, Maramureș and Sălaj). Did you know that beneath the cathedral there is a crypt where hierarchs of Cluj are buried, among them its founder, Bishop Nicolae Ivan, and Metropolitan Bartolomeu Anania, also known as a writer and translator of the Bible?