St. George's Church ( ro, Biserica Sfântul Gheorghe) is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 1 Piața Andrei Șaguna,

Sfântu Gheorghe Sfântu Gheorghe (; hu, Sepsiszentgyörgy or ''Szentgyörgy'' ; yi, סנט דזשארדזש; English lit.: ''Saint George'') is the capital city of Covasna County, Romania. Located in the central part of the country and in the historical regio ...

, Romania. It is dedicated to

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

. The town’s Romanian community had a wooden church as early as 1750. In 1790, the authorities of the Principality of Transylvania approved the construction of a new Orthodox church. Another wooden church was built on the site of the old one. Later, in 1802, a stone spire was added, which survives to this day. After 1850, the local Romanians began to demand a new church and school, both of which had fallen into disrepair. Their petitions asking to build in the town center, sent starting in 1862, went unanswered. Thus, they decided to rebuild the extant structures. In 1870, Metropolitan Andrei Șaguna sent an appeal for donations, which came from Transylvania as well as

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Șaguna consecrated the new church in 1872. Ioan Lăcătușu
“230 de ani de la înălțarea Bisericii ortodoxe vechi din Sfântu Gheorghe, județul Covasna”
''Covasna Media'', May 21, 2020 In 1916, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the church was used as a prison and then a barn for the horses of German troops, suffering serious damage. The priest was imprisoned from 1915 to 1917, charged with high treason. The church was repaired between 1919 and 1922, and new bells were donated. Metropolitan Nicolae Bălan rededicated the church in 1923. A second Romanian church opened in Sfântu Gheorghe in 1924; in the autumn of 1940, following the Second Vienna Award, both priests left for Brașov under pressure from the new Hungarian authorities. The parish remained vacant until 1941, when Bishop

Nicolae Colan Nicolae Colan (; November 28, 1893 – April 15, 1967) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian cleric, a metropolitan bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church. From a peasant background, Colan completed high school in Brașov, followed by a perio ...

named a new priest. Another priest left in 1990, during the ethnic tensions that followed the Romanian Revolution. Between 1790 and 1938, with only brief interruptions, the parish priests came from the Popoviciu family, several of whose members lie buried in the churchyard. The church is rectangular, without apses. The altar is separated from the nave by a wooden

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand t ...

, which has icons from 1872. The church was repaired and the interior walls painted in 1993. Entrance is through the tower, which is made of fired brick and nearly 15 meters high. The nave is around 5 meters high. The thick walls hold eight stained glass windows in the nave and three in the altar. The church is listed as a historic monument by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.Lista Monumentelor Istorice 2010: Județul Covasna

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George's Church, Sfântu Gheorghe Sfântu Gheorghe Historic monuments in Covasna County Churches completed in 1872 Romanian Orthodox churches in Romania