Holy Trinity Cathedral, Sibiu
| Holy Trinity Cathedral | |
|---|---|
Side view
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Sibiu, Sibiu County, Romania |
| Geographic coordinates | 45°47′40″N 24°08′54″E / 45.794523°N 24.148207°ECoordinates: 45°47′40″N 24°08′54″E / 45.794523°N 24.148207°E |
| Affiliation | Romanian Orthodox Church |
| District | Metropolitan of Transylvania |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural style | Byzantine Revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1902 |
| Completed | 1904 |
| Materials | Brick, concrete |
The Holy Trinity Cathedral, Sibiu (Romanian: Catedrala Sfânta Treime din Sibiu), located at 35 Mitropoliei Street, Sibiu, Romania, is the seat of the Romanian Orthodox Archbishop of Sibiu and Metropolitan of Transylvania. It was built in the style of a Byzantine basilica, inspired by Hagia Sophia, with the main spires influenced by Transylvanian church architecture and Baroque elements.
The idea of building an Orthodox cathedral in Sibiu began with Metropolitan Andrei Şaguna, who in the autumn of 1857 asked Emperor Franz Joseph I for permission to send a circular to his diocese requesting that priests and laymen give donations. He sent the letter before Christmas that year, and the first donor was the Emperor himself, who gave 1000 gold coins, followed by the governor of Transylvania with 50, Şaguna with 2000 florins, and many others. Donations continued to come in following Şaguna's death in 1873; the cornerstone was laid on 18 August 1902, when Ioan Meţianu was Metropolitan. In order to free the space to build the cathedral (which took up five lots on Mitropoliei Street and three on Xenopol Street, where it also has an entrance), eight nearby houses had to be demolished, as well as the little Greek church built in 1797-1799 that had heretofore served as a cathedral.
Work, coordinated by city architect Iosif Schussnig, began in 1902 and was finished in 1904, when the copper roof was done. The plan, by Virgil Nagy and Iosif Kamner of Budapest, was chosen from among designs submitted by 31 mainly Austrian and Hungarian architects. On 13 December 1904, the four bells were blessed and placed in the two main spires (during World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Army melted the three bells in the western spire for use as cannons; these were not replaced until 1926). The iconostasis and kliros were then manufactured at Constantin Babic's firm in Bucharest; electric lighting was also installed. The iconostasis (of gilt carved wood) and dome (showing flanked by angels) were painted by Octavian Smigelschi, from the nearby village of Ludoș.
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