Arad City (Churches)

Birth of Saint John the Baptizer Romanian Orthodox Cathedral

The Romanian Cathedral occupies a special place in the  
Arad architecture. It was built between 1862-1865 in a Baroque style. The work, co-ordinated by the architect Antoniu Czigler, began in 1861 on a swampy field not quite fit for a monumental building, a fact that determined the building of the church on pile very soon after it was finished, there were crannies in the wall because of the structure of the ground. The building required repairs, which were performed when the walls were painted. The building was completed on the 28th of February in 1870. The church is an enlarge pronaos because it is flanked by two steeple towers. The apse, in the inner side, is half-circular with a niche for the bishop's throne. The altar is separated from the nave by a wonderful iconostasis, a piece of art created by the sculptor Mihail Alexici. The entrance of the church is on the Northern, Southern and Western sides. The main entrance is in the Western part, being placed quite in the middle, the door having two wings. It has a rectangular form, with stone frames, flanked by rectangular niches.
The two towers, added in 1904, are majestic; they have a squared section with a clock on each side. The first great restoration of the outer side, as well as some changes to the inside of the building, was done in 1905-1906. The attic, with a round window, was added between the two towers. Electric light was introduced in 1921; and in 1939 some reparations were completed. Between 1957-1959, frescoes were placed on the walls by Anastasie Demian. The niches from the front facade were painted in frescoes. Due to the efforts of the bishopric of Arad, the artist Viorel Tigu did important restoration work. The main founders of this cathedral are the Moiconi family and George Sina, a banker from Vienna who offered large sums of money for this monumental building. For the Orthodox community, it has become too small and we believe that the new building of the cathedral will fulfil the dreams of the congregation.



Romano-Catholic Cathedral

The Romano-Catholic Cathedral is one of the most impressive buildings which dominates the main thoroughfare of the town. It integrates itself among the buildings of the Revolution Boulevard.
The building has a special architecture and was erected between 1902 - 1904 in Renaissance style according to the plans of Emil Tabakovics. The main entrance is arched, dominated on both sides by two colonnades which frame, in their superior side, the half round, deepened frontispiece.
The frontispiece houses the sculpture "Pieta", a copy of the one in San Piedro in Rome carved by Michelangelo. Above the sculpture, there is a frieze with three statues and a quotation from Luca, the evangelist, " My house is the house of prayers".
The tower of the cathedral, having a half-circular dome that is 56 m high, impresses by monumentality and sumptuousness. Visitors are impressed by the double and the simple colonnades that support the half-circular arches from the inner side till the altar. Wonderful is also the system of lighting the basilica; the light comes through 10 extremely beautiful stained glass windows that have themes typical to Western type Christianity. Visitors are also impressed by the painting of the church, achieved by Löhr Fernec and Bogdanffy Pauli Erik in the same Western style.
On the right side of the entrance, on the wall of the pronaos, there is an inscription from the old Convent of Arad Minorities that reminds us of the presence of the Emperor Josef II in the Arad area. A beautiful statue of the TRINITY is also there, at the beginning of the century it was placed in front of the Theatre.
The church has an organ with an extraordinary resonance. Because of this, concerts are organised in the church in cooperation with the Philharmonic orchestra, they may be on religious themes.
The bells were moulted in the Hönig workshops of Arad, famous in all of Central Europe for their masterpieces.
Between 1965-1966, the inner side of the cathedral was restored. The Miltaller brothers, famous for their talent, did the work.
Very recently, the facade of the cathedral was restored getting all its monumentality. The Roman - Catholic Church, built due to the people of Arad, represents one of the most outstanding buildings of the town. It is a monument, but also a place where one may pray.



The Red Church


For visitors of Arad, the building of the Protestant Church, known by the inhabitants as the "Red Church", is worth visiting. The name comes from the material the building is made of - red brick.
The building of the church started in March 1905. The author of the project was the Arad architect Ludovick Szantany. The entreprizer was Fich Lajos. The building process lasted more than one year and was finally finished in September of 1906. The dedication of the church occurred in 1906 in the presence of the bishop Sarany Samuel. It is built in the Neogothic style. The main materials used in building the church were stone, brick and concrete.
The main tower is 46 m high. The altar is a work of sculpture in Neogothic style. The sculptor Örr Gyorgy carved the pulpit from Kosice. The painting existing on the altar has as its theme "The pray of Jesus in the Getziman garden" and was painted by I. Umlauf in 1848. It is possible that the painting was brought from an older church.