The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Constanța ( ro, Catedrala Sfinții Apostoli Petru și Pavel din Constanţa), located at 25 Arhiepiscopiei Street, Constanța,

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 ...

, is the seat 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, as well as a monastery. Situated between Ovid Square and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

in front of the Archbishop's Palace, it was built on the city's peninsular zone in 1883-1885 following plans by architects Alexandru Orăscu and Carol Benesch and, for the interior,

Ion Mincu Ion Mincu (; December 20, 1852 – December 6, 1912 in Bucharest) was a Romanian architect known for having a leading role in the development of the Romanian Revival style. Most of his projects are located in Bucharest, including his main work ...

. The cornerstone was laid on 4 September 1883, during the reign of

Iosif Gheorghian Iosif may refer to: People *Iosif Amusin, Soviet historian *Iosif Anisim, Romanian sprint canoer * Iosif Blaga, Romanian literary theorist and politician * Iosif Bobulescu, Romanian bishop * Iosif Capotă, Romanian anti-communist resistance fight ...

, Metropolitan of All Romania. The church was consecrated on 22 May 1895.Catedrala episcopală din Constanța
crestinortodox.roCatedrala Sfinții Apostoli Petru si Pavel
, at the Constanța County Cultural Office The building served as a parish church until 1923, when the Diocese of Constanța was established. In that year it became a cathedral, serving as such until 3 August 1941, when its altar and iconostasis, along with icons and paintings, were partly destroyed by aerial bombardment during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It was restored after the war, from 1946 to 1951. Patriarch

Justinian Marina Justinian Marina (; born Ioan Marina ) (February 2, 1901, in Suiești, Vâlcea County – March 26, 1977, in Bucharest) was a Romanian Orthodox prelate. He was the third patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, serving between 1948 and 1977. ...

and Bishop Chesarie Păunescu re-consecrated it on 14 January 1951; at that time, Păunescu's seat was moved from Constanța to Galați and the building once again became a parish church. Exterior repairs took place from 1957 to 1959. When the diocese at Galați became an archdiocese on 9 November 1975, a vicar bishop began serving at Constanța, returning the church to the status of cathedral,Mănăstirea "Sfinții Apostoli Petru și Pavel"
at the Archdiocese of Tomis site once again becoming an archdiocesan cathedral when the Tomis Archdiocese was revived in 1990.Catedrala Arhiepiscopală
at the Archdiocese of Tomis site The cathedral, in Greco-Roman style, of pressed brick, has a wide facade and a 35 m tower. Among the sculpted works are the oak iconostasis and choir, as well as candelabras and candle stands (made of a bronze-brass alloy), also designed by Mincu and executed in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. The frescoes were done by two

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

painters between September 1959 and November 1965. That month, when they were finished, Bishop Păunescu consecrated the church once again. The relics of

Saint Panteleimon Saint Pantaleon ( el, Παντελεήμων, russian: Пантелеи́мон, translit=Panteleímon; "all-compassionate"), counted in the West among the late-medieval Fourteen Holy Helpers and in the East as one of the Holy Unmercenary Hea ...

, donated in 1931, along with part of the relics of Saints Auxentius of Bithynia and

Simeon Stylites Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite syc, ܫܡܥܘܢ ܕܐܣܛܘܢܐ ', Koine Greek ', ar, سمعان العمودي ' (c. 390 – 2 September 459) was a Syrian Christian ascetic, who achieved notability by living 37 years on a smal ...

, are kept inside. Also present are 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 ...

, said to be wonder-working, and the relics of Saints Epictetus and Astion, discovered in August 2001. On 1 December 2001, the latter were deposited in the cathedral, which on that date acquired the additional function of monastery; since that time, liturgies have been held according to monastic rites. The Archbishop's Palace, begun in 1925, is located beside the cathedral, to the west. The cornerstone was laid by Patriarch

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 ...

together with Bishops Grigorie Comșa of Arad and Ilarie Puiu of

Hotin Khotyn ( uk, Хотин, ; ro, Hotin, ; see other names) is a city in Dnistrovskyi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine and is located south-west of Kamianets-Podilskyi. It hosts the administration of Khotyn urban hromada, one of the ...

; Ilarie Teodorescu was then Bishop of Constanța.

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Constanta Romanian Orthodox cathedrals in Romania Romanian Orthodox monasteries of Dobruja Churches completed in 1885 19th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Buildings and structures in Constanța Tourist attractions in Constanța County Historic monuments in Constanța County