Evangelic Parochial Church

Biserica Evanghelică C.A. Gușterița Sibiu

The motto of Emanuel Church of Sibiu: „Light in the world and Church on the street!”

This is an orthodox church built during 1788 - 1789 on the expense of the widow Stana Hagi Petru Luca and rebuilt during 1802 - 1803 by her son-in-law after it was destroyed in the earthquake of October 26th, 1802. The building itself isn’t an edifice to shine through its architectonic value, being a simple one, namely it has a hall with apsis and tower, below which there is a threshold, in the West side, all on the same longitudinal axis. There aren’t any lateral apsides on the outside or on the inside. Instead, the apsis of the shrine is semi-circular, with a smaller width than the aisle. In respect to the facades, although simple, they are decorated with Doric capitals pilasters. The construction is made of brick, on which hot lime was cast which resulted in a strong structure similar to cement. The floor is made of stone slabs. Meanwhile it was replaced by white marble. If we refer to the inside, the elements that stand out are the oil portraits of the three founders: Hagi Constantin Pop, Stana Hagi Petru Luca and Păuna, wife of Hagi Constantin Pop. The altarpiece belongs to 1802 made of oak, with oil painting and baroque elements.

The entire building compound was built during 1881-1883, as an orphanage of the A.C. Evangelic community. In 1883, on the 400 years anniversary of Martin Luther, the church was built in neo-gothic style. During 1911-1912, it was demolished because of the risk of collapse and a new one was built next to a priest’s house. Concomitantly the constructions also continued on Bastionului Street. The church is shaped like a cross, in the Northern side there are the octagonal bell-tower and the four towers in the corners. The edifice still preserves the architectural aspect since the beginning of the 20th century. In the church there are two polyptych shrines: the shrine of Fisier (East) dedicated to St. Martin and the shrine of Roades (West). The paintings of the four evangelists flanking the central panel were painted by Johann Stoss. The statues of St. John the Baptiser and St. Evangelist John on the central panel of the shrine of Roades, are part of the most beautiful Transylvanian sculptures. They are attributed to the woodworker Veit Stoss.

"Sfânta Treime" Orthodox Cathedral was built during 1902-1906, on the spot of a Greek church that served until then as an episcopal cathedral. The construction was done during the period of Emperor Franz Josef, cared for by Metropolitan Ioan Mețianu. The idea to build an Orthodox cathedral in Sibiu belonged to Bishop Andrei Șaguna of Transylvania, who, on October 5th, 1857, requested the Emperor Franz Joseph I permission to organize an offertory towards building the construction. The first benefactor was Șaguna himself, who announced on December 4th, 1857 that he donated 2.000 Florins. Emperor Franz Joseph I himself donated 1000 gold pieces, thus becoming one of the founders of the monumental cathedral. The civil works finally amounted to 912.197 Crowns and 24 Fillers, plus the expenses for the purchase of the sanctified tabernacles, ornaments, crosses and books. The Metropolitan Cathedral of Sibiu was sanctified on April 30th/May 13th, 1906, on the Sunday of the Samaritan, by Metropolitan Ioan Mețianu, alongside the Bishop of Arad, Ioan Papp, and a great synod of priests and deacons. Numerous believers attended the sanctification service. The cathedral is 53,10 m long and 25,40 m width at the centre, the dome is 24,70 m high (34,70 m on the outside) and 15 m in diameter, while the towers are 43 m high (45 m crosses included). On the outside, the building is adorned with colourful brick, five rows of yellow brick alternating with three rows of red brick. The entrance of the cathedral is a portico with three semi-circle openings. Behind the portico, between the towers, there is an ample pediment, with a light well decorated with mosaic medallions, representing Jesus and the four evangelists. The five mosaic pieces are manufactured in Munich, according to the drawings of Ludovic Kandler. The furniture of the cathedral was manufactured in Bucharest and Sibiu. The carving of the altarpiece, bishop’s throne, liturgical objects was done by sculptor Constantin (C.M.) Babic of Bucharest, and the pulpit, the two lecterns for the parish clerks, the tetrapod in the middle of the cathedral, 28 lecterns for the priests and 82 for church goers were manufactured by master Emil Pătruțiu of Sibiu. The altarpiece is made of gilded lime wood. The titular saint of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Sibiu is "Sfânta Treime” (the “Holy Trinity”).

In Sibiu, even before the year 1242, on the outside of the citadel walls, there was a church of the Dominican Monks Order. In 1417, the Austrian sculptor Peter Lantregen chiselled in stone a monumental crucifix with two characters, Pained Virgin Mary and Saint Apostle John. The giant crucifix was in the church of the monastery. Being located on the outside of the citadel’s walls, the Dominican monastery is frequently exposed to enemy attacks, reason for which the monks deserted it in the second half of the 15th century subsequently building a new institution, the current church of the Ursulines. After the fire and demolition of the old Dominican church, the giant crucifix was fallen to the ground and covered by rubble until a 1683 when the city Council raised the cross again. IN 1755 the Transylvanian counsellor Martin Wankel von Seeberg required the construction of a chapel around the monolithic cross, which is preserved today. In 1954, „Sfânta Cruce” chapel (“Holy Cross”) was declared historical monument. Over more than 50 years the chapel was cared for by the Polish refugee community of Sibiu from Basarabia and Bucovina.

The Grand Synagogue of Sibiu is located on Constituţiei Street, being a Jewish place of worship, built during 1898-1899, in eclectic style. The building consists of a two story rectangular wing. The main façade is coated with red brick. The ground floor is delimited from the first floor by a belt and a frieze made of stone decorated with green motifs. The entrance door and the windows are finished on the upper side in a semi-circle shape. The superior glazed section is decorated with the Star of David. All the windows have on the upper side a white stone framework, finished with a broken arch. The synagogue has three entrances: a central one, on the main façade and two on the side facades. On the main façade there is an entrance door, a twofold wooden door, having above it a transom window made of colourful glass decorated with the Star of David. On the inside, the grand hall has numerous carved elements, with semi-circle arcade decorated with Moorish motifs on the central ceiling. The hall is naturally lit by the numerous windows at the ground floor as well as the first floor. The Moresque arcades are repeated between the multiple colonnades of handrail at the women’s gallery. The ceiling of the building is coffered, being decorated with marquetry drawn and painted by hand in neo-renaissance style.

"Dintre Brazi" Church is the oldest Romanian place of worship of Sibiu, its name coming from the firs surrounding the building. The edifice was built during 1778-1788 in baroque style, on a land donated for this purpose by the Empress Maria Terezia, on the request of Bishop Grigore Maior. The funding of the construction was also done by Bishop Grigore Maior. The idea to build a Romanian church on the exterior side of the fortification of Sibiu is older, belonging to Bishop Inochentie Micu-Klein (1734). The edifice is a church consisting of a hall supporting a dome on an oval shaped tambour. Both the façade and the interior have baroque elements such as massive columns, pilasters and shell motif. The altar piece was painted by Joseph Neuhäuser in 1795. It the cemetery of the church there are numerous funerary monuments, declared historical monuments, of prominent personalities of the Romanian Transylvanian culture: George Bariţiu, Alexandru Papiu-Ilarian, David Urs, Ioan Raţiu, Iosif Sterca-Şuluţiu. The titular saints of this Church are the Saint Apostles Peter and Paul.

After joining the religious reform, the city of Sibiu was left for almost 150 years without a Catholic church. As a result of the Leopoldine Diploma in 1691, Austrian troupes arrived in Sibiu, together with Catholic military priests. For the soldiers it was allowed to celebrate the Catholic service in the so called Hall of Tailors from the Large Squar, right on the spot of the Catholic church of today. After long talks with the protestant council of the city, the construction of a Catholic parochial church was able to start. On July 4th 1726 the headstone was place and on September 13th, 1733, the church was sanctified by the Bishop of Transylvania, Baron Georg von Zorger. The church, built by the Jesuits, stands out due to its early Viennese baroque style, with a simple exterior and interior full of decorative elements. The decorative elements (bells, triglyphs, volutes, shells) are also specific to other monuments of the baroque style in Sibiu that followed the pattern of the Jesuit church. The interior structure of the church is that of a rectangular shaped hall, with a tribune on the Southern side. The confession chairs are dating since the Jesuit period. The painting of the aisle was done by the German painter Ludwig Kandler and is dating since 1904. The interior fresco decorating the main shrine is extremely valuable, a representation of the Virgin and Child. The stained glass windows were manufactured in 1901 in Budapest. The current organ of the church, installed in 1860, was manufactured by the organ manufacturer Karl Hesse of Vienna. Another interior valuable element is the funerary monument of the General Count Otto Ferdinand Traum of Abensberg (1677-1747), military commander of Transylvania during 1744-1747. The monument is on the right side of the shrine, being manufactured by the carver Anton Schuchbanu of Cluj. The tower of the church has a representation of an arched alleyway, connecting the Large Square to the Small Square of Sibiu. The tower was finalized in 1738 and it has four tall stories and a dome. The tower clock with dials towards the two squares is dating since 1838. On the other side of the tower, the crest of the roof is provided with a light turret.