Church restoration and extension

Above Cluj, on the “Felek ridge,” lies the village of Felek, an old Romanian settlement of historical character. A pointed-arch stone church was built here in the Middle Ages by Stephen the Great (Ștefan cel Mare). From this late Gothic structure, Károly Kós fashioned one of his most accomplished churches.

From the perspective of contemporary monument conservation, the rebuilding of historic churches is only marginally acceptable; however, in Transylvania—also in Kós’s practice—such interventions were often the only means of preserving them. The former small church was enlarged, resulting in the relocation of the original Gothic portal into a new, bright white, gabled main façade, complemented above the entrance by three pointed-arch window openings. To the left of the main façade, slightly set back, rises the likewise whitewashed, tile-roofed tower, articulated with four small corner turrets.

In its proportions and slenderness, the tower is unique within Kós’s oeuvre, although it bears strong resemblance to the unrealized expansion design for the Reformed church in Magyarvista. The church, surrounded by trees and situated on a small hill along the steep slope of the Felek ridge, continues to testify to Kós’s exceptional sensitivity to site placement. The picturesque landscape is scarcely distinguishable from that of a Hungarian village—the church could just as easily be perceived as a Reformed one.