Visit to "St. Nicholas" Greek Catholic Cathedral - information program within Eurovacanta Guide Club

"St. Nicholas" Greek Catholic Cathedral 

History

1744 - is constituted a chapel for the Romanians which were united with Rome by Pál Forgács vicar. He donates his house to build this chapel.

1776-1777 - Maria Theresa ordered the establishment of a Greek Catholic diocese, which will be recognized by the Pope in June 1777. The first bishop was Moses Dragos.

1800 - starts the church construction of St. Nicholas on the former chapel under the direction of Bishop Ignatie Darabant. Works lasted until 1810.

1836 - the Church was already finished and endowed with all the necessary and was sanctified by Bishop Samuil Vulcan.

1836 (June) - occurred the worst fire that ravaged half of Oradea during which the Church roof and steeple burned. The temperature was so high that melted the bells. Bishop Samuil Vulcan was so emotionally shaken that he never recovered and died with this pain in his soul in 1839. By 1870 the edifice was rebuilt and restored by Vasile Erdeli şi Iosif Pop-Sălăjanul bishops.

1892 - Bishop Michael Paul hires the famous painter Szirmai from Budapest to decorate the church.

1907 - an unusually strong wind tipped the golden cross from the top of tower. During the repair work, the bell tower catch fire and destroy all the wooden skeleton steeple. As a result Bishop Demetriu Radu hires the architect Giovanni Quai, which restores the steeple as today. He also designs and executes the Holy Shrine, the Table of oblation and the kliros of the choir (1924) with a capacity of 200 people under the guidance of Bishop Valeriu Traian Frenţiu.

1948-2005 - the church was preached by the Orthodox, during which they performed several repairs in the care of Orthodox bishops Valerian Zaharia, Vasile Coman and Ioan Mihălţan.

Description

External dimensions: 64 m long, 22 m wide, 60 m tower height.

The construction type is nave with apses and the architectural style is late baroque. The iconostasis is also baroque, has 41 icons arranged in six registers and is covered with gold leaf.

The church has vaulted semi-cylindrical in cross cradle and a large choir balcony.

The painting is dominated by an azure blue and the interior is distinguished by the outstanding frescoes, such as the Holy Trinity, Christ among children and the Sermon on the Mount.

The Cathedral has late baroque and classical influences, while the structure is specific to the Western Catholic place of worship.

Noteworthy would be to mention the gift offered by Empress Maria Theresa to the Church, namely two decorative elements on which are painted his son and her portrait, that can be seen to this days in the interior. 

Images inside the church