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Sibiu - Churches
Catholic Church (Biserica Catolica)
The Jesuit monks built the church between 1726 and 1733 in Baroque style. The bishop Georg von Zorger blessed it. At the beginning, the church's interior wasn't painted and the glasses from windows were colorless, thus the church was brighter. The Virgin Mary fresco is the oldest fresco in church, being painted by Austrian artist Anton Steinwald in 1777. In 1904 artist Ludwig Kandler from Munich painted the edifice. The church's organ, installed in 1860 was made by the organ builder Karl Hesse from Vienna. The tower, detached from the church's nave, was finished in 1738,next year the cross being added on top of the belfry.
Inside the church, in the right side of the altar, there is the funeral monument of the general Otto Ferdinand de Abensberg, the commander of Transylvania between 1744 and 1747. The stained glasses were made in Budapest in 1901.
Evangelical Cathedral (Catedrala Evanghelica)
The present church was built on the place of an old Romanesque basilica from the 12th century. The edifice was finished in 1520.
With five pointed towers it is one of the most impressive buildings in Sibiu. The tower, built in 1494, is nearly 74 m high and it is the tallest building in Transylvania. The spire was surrounded by four small towers as a sign of the jurisdiction as a chief town.
Initially, the church was a Catholic church dedicated to St. Mary but after the Reformation, it was transformed into an Evangelical church. Thus, almost all original frescoes were erased. Only one of the many Late Middle Ages frescoes was preserved. This mural painting, the so-called “Rosenauer painting”, is a presentation of the Crucifixion, placed on the northern wall of the choir. It is dated 1445, and was painted by Iohannes de Rozenaw. The fresco, over 9 meters high, has Italian and Austrian influences, being repainted many times. Also, the fresco is unique because it represents Jesus behind bars.
The neo-Gothic altarpiece was made in Vienna and set in the choir during the restoration works in 1855. Before the Lutheran Reformation, there were 24 polyptych altarpieces in the church. One of them is preserved in the church; parts of the others are to be seen today in the Brukenthal Museum. The old altarpiece, painted before the Reformation, is dated 1512. In 1545, in the Reformation context, the altarpiece was changed by removing the saints near Jesus. The eight panels of the altarpiece’s wings represent Christ’s Passions. The central part of the altar shows the Crucifixion, the lower part of the painting being repainted in 1545. On a blue background, two Bible passages from Mathew and Isaiah were written in golden letters, replacing the saints painted before.
Somewhere above the central panel of the altar, the only canon ball who hit the church can be seen.
Inside the choir, there is one of the most beautiful baptismal fonts in the country. It has the shape of a chalice, decorated with Gothic inscriptions and small letters. On its surface, there are 228 sings in relief. The font is the work of the artist Leonhardus, from 1438. Tradition pleads for its being moulded from the bronze of the Turkish cannons captured by the inhabitants of Sibiu in 1437.
The epitaphs on the northern wall of the main nave are made in
the memory of different magistrates from Sibiu.
The Baroque organ is dated in 1672, and it was made in Slovakia. The new organ, the biggest organ in the country was made in Frankfurt between 1914 and 1915, being restored in 1997.
67 graves are inside the church, among them even the one belonging to the son of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula), Mihnea the Bad who was killed on the steps of the church. In 1803, the body of Samuel Brukenthal, governor of Transylvania, was the last one to be buried in the church near pulpit. Today all the tombstones are displayed in Ferula (or galilee). The oldest one is dated from 1496 and belongs to a major of Sibiu.
The Orthodox Cathedral (Catedrala Ortodoxa)
The church, situated on Mitropoliei Street, was built between 1902 and 1906 by architects Virgil Nagy and Iosif Kamner from Budapest, the founder being the Metropolitan Ioan Metianu. Octavian Smigelschi made the church's painting and the iconostasis. Through out history, the church was renovated and endowed with a beautiful painting made by Iosif Keber and Anastasie Demian.
This is the second largest Orthodox Cathedral in Romania.
The Chapel of the Holly Cross (Capela Sfintei Cruci)
The Chapel of the Holly Cross, situated in Railway Station Square, has an interesting story. It is built on the former place of a Dominican church situated outside of the citadel. Because the church was many times attacked, the edifice was abandoned. Through out history the church became a ruin, a cross being the only thing preserved. Austrian carver Peter Lantregen made this cross in 1417. In 1755 the Transylvanian counselor Martin Wankel von Seeberg ordered the construction of a chapel, preserved even today.
Ursulinelor Church (Biserica Ursulinelor)
The edifice, situated on Avram Iancu street and built in 1474, was a Dominican monastery till 1543 when it was transformed into a Lutheran church. In 1755 it was taken over by the nuns of the Ursulinelor Order. The interior of the church, built initially in Gothic style, was transformed by nuns in Baroque Style. The communists exiled the nuns and the church's wealth was confiscated. Since 1992, the Greek Catholic Church celebrates services in the church.
Franciscan Church (Biserica Franciscana)
At the beginning, in the Middle Ages, the church belonged to a severe nun order. After the Lutheran reform, the church was used as a warehouse. Since 1716 the church belongs to the Franciscan Order. In 1949 the church was confiscated by communists, the monks being sent in camps. The church is placed on the Selarilor Street.
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