The Archbishop's Palace ( ro, Palatul Arhiepiscopiei Tomisului) is a building located at 23 Arhiepiscopiei Street, Constanța, Romania. It is the official residence of the

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates ...

Archbishop of Tomis. The palace was built upon the initiative of Bishop Ilarie Teodorescu. In 1924, architect Ion D. Enescu drew up the plans, which specified imposing dimensions, two recessed facades with two floors, an orientation parallel to the adjacent cathedral and arched windows of different styles on three levels. The cornerstone was laid in May 1925; among those present were

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

Miron Cristea Miron Cristea (; monastic name of Elie Cristea ; 20 July 1868 – 6 March 1939) was a Romanian cleric and politician. A bishop in Hungarian-ruled Transylvania, Cristea was elected Metropolitan-Primate of the Orthodox Church of the newly unifi ...

and ministers

Constantin Angelescu Constantin Angelescu (10 June 1869 – 14 September 1948) was a Romanian politician who served as ad interim/ acting Prime Minister of Romania for five days, between 30 December 1933 and 3 January 1934. He was: Doctor of Medicine in Paris, Pleni ...

and

Alexandru Lapedatu Alexandru I. Lapedatu (14 September 1876 – 30 August 1950) was Cults and Arts and State minister of Romania, President of the Senate of Romania, member of the Romanian Academy, its president and general secretary. Family Alexandru Lapedatu w ...

. The initial cost was 2 million lei, paid by the Religious Affairs and Arts Ministry. Bishop Ilarie died in autumn 1925; his successor Gherontie Nicolau oversaw completion. Construction was beset by various difficulties, prompting one of the chief participants to commit suicide in late 1926. The palace was largely complete by mid-1927, but was only finalized and inaugurated in early 1934. Bishop Gherontie opened a wax candle factory in the basement in 1939. The building was damaged by Soviet bombing during World War II and repaired in 1957-1958. Under the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

, from 1957 to 1977, it housed the Constanța History and Archaeology Museum. It then hosted the

Constanța County Constanța () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the Dobruja region. Its capital city is also named Constanța. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 684,082 and the population density was 96/km2. The degr ...

Library until 1998, when it was restored to the archdiocese. Sabrina Nedelcu
“Cutremurătoarea poveste a Palatului Arhiepiscopiei Tomisului“
''Cuget Liber'', April 24, 2012 The top floor of the building was destroyed by fire in 2022. The palace is listed as a

historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.Lista Monumentelor Istorice 2010: Județul Constanța

Notes

{{coord, 44.1717, 28.6608, type:landmark_region:RO, display=title Buildings and structures in Constanța Historic monuments in Constanța County Episcopal palaces 1934 establishments in Romania Residential buildings completed in 1934 Former library buildings