Orthodox Cathedral, Kolozsvár
Body
László Debreczeni, Transylvanian art historian and architect, wrote the following about the project:
“Károly Kós also submitted an entry to the design competition for the Orthodox Romanian Cathedral built in Cluj (1921). He had studied the architecture of the Eastern Church in Constantinople, drawing on the original Byzantine legacy, and on this basis prepared his competition design, which was awarded second prize.”
In an earlier manuscript, Debreczeni added:
“Kós, who learned Byzantine architecture in Constantinople, also entered the competition. He designed a canonically east-oriented church. His design did not follow the Neo-Byzantine trend of the disciples of [Ion] Mincu, … yet it nevertheless received second prize.”
The Greek Catholic church built in Fejérd between 1927 and 1928 displays similar stylistic characteristics.
Bibliography
Debreczeni László: Kós Károly, az építőművész. In: Korunk XXVI./8., 1967 (1060–1067.)
Debreczeni László: Kós Károlyról készített kéziratos tanulmányok, részletek. Erdélyi Református Egyházkerületi Levéltár, Kolozsvár
Gall, Anthony: Kós Károly műhelye – tanulmány és adattár. Mundus Magyar Egyetemi Kiadó, Budapest, 2002 (300.) [1921-1]
Iuga, Liliana: "Building a cathedral for the nation. Power hierarchies, spatial politics
and the practice of multi-ethnicity in interwar Cluj, Romania (1919-1933)" in Under Construction. Building the Material and the Imagined World, ed.: Eike-Christian Heine, Kultur und Technik Band 30, Lit Verlag, Berlin, 2015
