![Piarista kolozsvar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Piarista_kolozsvar.jpg)
The
Piarist
The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the ...
Church ( ro, Biserica Piariștilor, also known as the Jesuit Church (''Biserica Iezuiților'') or the University Church (''Biserica Universității''); hu, piarista templom), located at 5 Str. Universității,
Cluj-Napoca,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
, and dedicated to the
Holy Trinity, was the first
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
church built in
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
after the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...
, as well as the province's first
Baroque church building. Among the city's more notable edifices, it served as a prototype for numerous other churches in Transylvania. It features a strong contrast between the sober exterior and a very well-decorated, almost exuberant interior. A
statue of the Virgin Mary stood in front of the church until 1959, when the
Communist authorities moved it to another part of the city.
History
![Biserica Piarista din Cluj-Napoca](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Biserica_Piarista_din_Cluj-Napoca.jpg)
On 13 March 1718,
Jesuit priests began a fundraising campaign in order to build the church. Bishop Georgius Martonfi laid the cornerstone; the church was completed in 1724 and consecrated the following year by Bishop Joannes Antalfi. The Jesuits were
suppressed in 1773 by
Pope Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV ( la, Clemens XIV; it, Clemente XIV; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in Sep ...
, so in 1776 Empress
Maria Theresa transferred the church to the
Piarists
The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the ...
.
![Piarist church cluj int](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Piarist_church_cluj_int.JPG)
The church was restored in 1775, 1831, 1943, 1970 and 2005-6.
On 12 August 1956, priests and some 5,000 lay members of the
Romanian Greek-Catholic Church (who appeared on very short notice) organised a protest before the church. Its purpose was to demonstrate that their church, banned in 1948, had not ceased to exist, as the regime claimed. Initially they attempted to enter the church and hold mass, but the Roman Catholic priests did not allow them inside for fear of reprisals. Thus an open-air mass was held in front of the church; Fr.
Vasile Chindriș in his sermon openly criticised the Communist leadership before masses of worshipers. Every priest who officiated at the liturgy was later arrested and imprisoned. Among the lay persons punished was Vasile Fărcaș, president of the Cluj Tribunal in the
interwar period, who served nearly 8 years of a ten-year sentence, and his wife Eugenia.
Description
The church has two clock towers, each 45 m high. There are three narrow vertical windows above the entrance, meant to help illuminate the interior. The main door is surrounded by rich ornamentation; above it there is a
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
of the Trinity with the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
inscription ''Honori Sanctissimae Trinitatis'' ("In Honour of the Most Holy Trinity"). There are two smaller doors to the left and the right of this one; above each of them is a sculpture of a saint resting in a niche –
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, ...
and
Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...
, works of the
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n artist Johannes König. Previously, statues of saints
John of Nepomuk
John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) ( cs, Jan Nepomucký; german: Johannes Nepomuk; la, Ioannes Nepomucenus) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393)
was the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus ...
and
Aloysius Gonzaga, also by König, stood near the side entrances.
In contrast to the simple exterior, the interior is lavishly ornamented. The building has a single
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
, 45 m long and 24 m high. There are three chapels on the sides, each with its own altar and adorned with several paintings. On the walls are to be found the devotional plaques common to Roman Catholic churches, written in Transylvania's main historical languages: Romanian, Hungarian, German and Latin.
The main altar near the
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
is grandiose. On the upper part is the Latin inscription ''Magno Deo uni ac trino laus virtus gloria'' ("To the one and triune great God praise, honour and glory"), between two angels. The altar is dedicated to the Trinity. Upon it rests an
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
of the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
, painted on wood and framed in metal; a number of people reported that it shed tears over a two-week period in 1699. This may be the original wonder-working icon from
Nicula Monastery
Nicula Monastery is an important pilgrimage center in the north of Transylvania. It is located in Nicula village, Cluj County, in the vicinity of Gherla.
An unconfirmed tradition holds that the monastery was established in the 14th century. The f ...
. Below it are two statues of Jesuit saints, Francis and Ignatius, brought from
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
in 1726.
The
pulpit, the work of Anton Schuchbauer, is decorated on the outside with relief carvings of the
Four Evangelists, and in between the pulpit and its crown there is a bas-relief with the most important Jesuit saints.
Saint Michael
Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
is depicted on the pulpit's crown.
Underneath the church building there is a crypt with 140 graves.
See also
*
List of Jesuit sites
This list includes past and present buildings, facilities and institutions associated with the Society of Jesus. In each country, sites are listed in chronological order of start of Jesuit association.
Nearly all these sites have bee ...
References
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{{PlacesCluj
Churches in Cluj-Napoca
Piarist Order
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1724
18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Romania
Baroque church buildings in Romania
1724 establishments in the Habsburg monarchy
18th-century establishments in Hungary
Jesuit churches in Romania