The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Constanța (), located at 25 Arhiepiscopiei Street,

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, is the seat of the

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

Archbishop of Tomis, as well as a monastery. Situated between Ovid Square and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...

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 Alexandru Hristea Orăscu (30 July 1817 – 16 December 1894) was a Romanian architect famous for his Neoclassicist and Renaissance-revival works. He was born in Bucharest in 1817 to serdar Hristea Orăscu and his wife, Elena Orăscu. He gr ...

and

Carol Benesch Carol Benesch (January 9, 1822, Jägerndorf, Austro-Hungarian Empire, today Krnov, Czech RepublicOctober 30, 1896, Bucharest, Romania) was a Silesian architect of Historicism and Eclecticism orientation established in the Kingdom of Romania. He ...

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,

Metropolitan of All Romania The Patriarch of All Romania (; ) is the title of the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The Patriarch is officially styled as ''Archbishop of Archdiocese of Bucharest, Bucharest, Metropolitan of Metropolis of Muntenia and Dobruja, Muntenia an ...

. 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 In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () 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 that can be placed anywhere withi ...

, along with icons and paintings, were partly destroyed by aerial bombardment during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

Justinian Marina Justinian Marina (; born Ioan Marina ; February 2, 1901 – March 26, 1977) was a Romanian Orthodox prelate. He was the third patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, serving between 1948 and 1977. Parish priest in the Râmnic Diocese I ...

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, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The frescoes were done by two

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

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 (), counted in Western Christianity as among the Fourteen Holy Helpers of the Late Middle Ages, and in Eastern Christianity as one of the Holy Unmercenary Healers, was a martyr of Nicomedia in Bithynia during the Diocletianic ...

, donated in 1931, along with part of the relics of Saints

Auxentius of Bithynia Auxentius of Bithynia () was a hermit born circa AD 400 in Syria, and died February 14, 473, on Mount Scopas (also known as '' Mount Auxentius''; currently known in Turkish as ''Kayış Dağı''). Life Born in Syria of Persian ancestry, Auxentius ...

and

Simeon Stylites Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite ', Koine Greek ', ' (Greek language, Greek: Συμεών ό Στυλίτης; ; 2 September 459) was a Syrian Asceticism#Christianity, Christian ascetic, who achieved notability by living 36 years on a s ...

, 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, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, 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 unifie ...

together with Bishops

Grigorie Comșa Grigorie Gh. Comșa (; born Gheorghe Comșa; May 13, 1889–May 25, 1935) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian cleric who became a bishop within the Romanian Orthodox Church. Born in Comăna de Sus, Brașov County, in the Tra ...

of Arad and Ilarie Puiu of

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

; 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 19th-century Romanian Orthodox monasteries