Cluj-Napoca - Gothic-style Reformist Church

The Gothic-style Reformist Church on strada Kogalniceanu is, perhaps, the most charming religious building in Cluj-Napoca. The church was commissioned in 1486 by Matthias Corvin as a gift to the Franciscan order. The construction took 20 years. Because of religious reforms in the city, the church was abandoned just 30 years later, in 1556. The Jesuit community used the building and annexes for 22 years, beginning in 1581; the Jesuits were banned with the onset of Habsburg influence. The church was given to the Unitarian reformists in 1622.

The walls are original, while the vaulted ceiling was re-built in the 1640s; significant repairs were made in the mid-20th century to the foremost part of the ceiling and, hence, the pediment of the facade. The facade itself is simple, partitioned into 3 sections by 2 simple buttresses and framed at the corners by buttresses constructed at an oblique angle. The 3 sections of the facade each have tall stained-glass windows as do the inter-buttressed sections of the apse and the foremost sections along the two long walls. The entrance has an elegant molding and a pillar separates the 2 doors. An arch extending from the southwest corner of the facade led to annexes of which only the foundations are visible.

The interior has a simple, open plan with ribbed sandstone pillars standing out against whitewashed walls. The pulpit, composed of sandstone, alabaster, and cypress wood, was crafted in the 1640s by artisans from Sibiu, Elias Nicolai and Benedikt Mueck. The beautiful organ was installed in 1765. The walls bear family crests honoring deceased family members. A statue of St. George, a copy of a statue in Prague dating to 1373, was placed in front of the church in 1904.
(composed 2015 for website of Transylvania Alive Association for Cultural Heritage) 

Gothic-style Reformist Church, Cluj-Napoca. (photos Eric De Sena, 2015)