National Cathedral

About

The National Cathedral (Romanian: Catedrala Națională), also known as the People's Salvation Cathedral (Romanian: Catedrala Mântuirii Neamului), is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Bucharest, Romania, built to serve as the patriarchal cathedral of the Romanian Orthodox Church. It is located in central Bucharest on Spirea's Hill (Arsenal Square), facing the Palace of Parliament. At 133 metres (436 ft) tall, the cathedral occupies a dominant position in Bucharest's cityscape, being visible from all approaches to the city. It is the tallest and largest Eastern Orthodox church building by volume, and area, in the world. The People's Salvation Cathedral will have the largest collection of church mosaics (interior decoration) in the world when it is completed, covering about 25,000 square meters. Also the People's Salvation Cathedral has the world's largest Orthodox iconostasis (23.8 meters long and 17.1 meters high) and the world's largest free-swinging church bell. The cathedral is dedicated to the Ascension of Christ, which in Romania is celebrated as Heroes' Day, and to Saint Andrew the Apostle, the protector of Romania. The cathedral was consecrated on 25 November 2018, by the Ecumenical...

The idea of a national cathedral first emerged following the Romanian War of Independence (1877–1878), which was primarily fought between the Russian and Ottoman Empires. The church was intended to symbolize the victory of Orthodox Christians over Ottoman Muslims. The idea was shelved due to a lack of consensus on the design, location and funding. The Unification of the Romanian Principalities in 1859 led to a unitary organization of church structures in Moldavia and Wallachia within the Holy Synod (1872). The old Metropolitan Cathedral had proven to be overcrowded, especially during national holidays, such as the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Romania and the coronation of King Carol I of Romania (10 May 1881). Therefore, at King Carol I's desire, Romania's Assembly of Deputies and the Senate voted in favor of Law no. 1750 on the construction of the Cathedral Church in Bucharest, which was promulgated by King Carol I on 5 June 1884.

On 10 May 1920, King Ferdinand I sent a royal letter to Archbishop Miron Cristea, the first Metropolitan- Primate of Greater Romania, supporting the project, but this had no effect. In 1925, after the Romanian Orthodox Church became an independent patriarchate, Metropolitan Cristea now newly enthroned as the first Patriarch of All Romania, suggested Carol Park as a site, but Bibescu Vodă Square (Unirii Square) was chosen instead. There, in 1929, a cross ( calvary ) was raised, but lack of funds meant the construction was postponed and later abandoned. Patriarch Teoctist was the one who re-launched the project of building a National Cathedral. To this end, he sanctified a cross on 5 February 1999, as the cornerstone of the future cathedral in Unirii Square, which had previously been sanctified by Patriarch Miron Cristea. Meanwhile, there had been an epochal event, which was the visit by Pope John Paul II to Romania (7–9 May 1999).

On 16 February 2005, the Bucharest City Hall proposed Arsenal Hill to the Patriarchate as "the most suitable place to be available" for the structure, considering it the highest place in Bucharest. Following the Patriarchate's approval, the Government of Romania promoted Ordinance no. 19/17 March 2005, for the building of the People's Salvation Cathedral. Subsequently, the Chamber of Deputies voted to give the 110,000 square meter building site to the Romanian Patriarchate via a protocol on 13 February 2006. Arsenal Hill was recommended after three other locations had been proposed at different stages: Piața Unirii (1999), Alba Iulia Square (2001), and Carol Park (2004). The communist regime had previously demolished three churches (Alba Postăvari, Spirea Veche, and Izvorul Tămăduirii) and moved two others ( Schitul Maicilor and Mihai Vodă ) to build the civic center and the Palace of the Parliament (previously known as the House of the People). The cornerstone for the construction of the People's Salvation Cathedral was sanctified on 29 November 2007, officiated by Patriarch Daniel, the sixth Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Metropolitan-primate Miron Cristea first proposed the name of the cathedral on 10 May 1920. Speaking before the Holy Synod and King Ferdinand, he advocated for building a People's Cathedral to celebrate the birth of Greater Romania. Metropolitan Miron explained that the cathedral "will prove to be a visible symbol of our unity in faith and law". King Ferdinand then took the floor, referring to the project as a Church of Redemption, while Metropolitan Pimen Georgescu used a slightly different phrasing mentioning the People's Redemption Church.

The Romanian word "neam" is difficult to translate into English, because the term people does not properly convey the sense of unity of blood and lineage that "neam" suggests. It is perhaps better expressed by phrases like ethnic nation or kin. National identity, in this sense, is a kind of ancestor worship, a system of kinship in which national heroes, occupy the place of clan elders in defining a nation as a noble lineage. The word "mântuire" just like "neam", is specifically Romanian and is also a complex term. Although it is commonly translated as salvation, it retains a spiritual nuance that makes redemption a better alternative. Patriarch Daniel explained the choice of the name at the 2008 symposium "New Patriarchal Cathedral", stating: "this name is a manifestation of gratitude or thanksgiving, brought to God for the deliverance of the Romanian nation from oppression and alienation".

The first celebration of the day is the Ascension of Christ, which is also the day dedicated to Romanian heroes of all times and places. The second is the celebration of Saint Apostle Andrew the First-Called, the Protector of Romania. Two relics of Saint Andrew the Apostle from Italy, the right leg fibula and another fragment from the Amalfi Cathedral, were donated to the cathedral. This donation was made on the occasion of the Romanian Patriarchate's centennial and for the consecration of the cathedral's nave in 2025.

Patriarch Daniel said about the first celebration: "The homage paid to the memory of the Romanian heroes of World War I, who fought for national freedom, unity, and dignity, must be a source of inspiration and renewal for patriotic Romanians today. That is why the main dedication of the People's Salvation Cathedral is the Lord's Ascension, when we celebrate the Day of Heroes". Patriarch Daniel said about the second celebration: "This building will be a symbol of national unity because the feast of Saint Apostle Andrew, which was placed the day before the National Day on 1 December, shows that our national unity settled among Romanians primarily on spiritual unity, on unity of faith, thought, and sentiment. Our church greatly contributed to the development of the Romanian language and culture".

The Romanian Patriarchate launched a tender on 28 December 2009, to select the architectural design for the People's Salvation Cathedral, and Vanel Exim based in Bacău, was chosen for the architectural design of the cathredral. To begin the cathedral's construction, 24 notices were required from various state institutions and the Bucharest City Hall. The works officially started on 15 December 2010.

Between December 2010 and June 2011, the company Foretis Inject executed the 80-centimeter-thick diaphragm walls of the foundation to a depth of 15.6 meters (north-south walls). Simultaneously, the company Lufin Construct excavated 90 thousand cubic meters of soil from the foundation pit. On the higher north–south walls, the anchorages were mounted on three levels. On the shorter east–west walls, two-level anchorages were mounted, and the last level of anchorages is located below the groundwater level. The hanger rods have a 75-degree inclination toward the foundation wall, and the fastening was made with the help of 750 anchorages drilled into concrete by the Italian company CasaGrande.

On 28 June 2011, the contract for the building's foundation construction was signed with the Bog'Art company. Between July 2011 and April 2013, the cathedral was built up to the nave floor, reaching a height of 7 meters (including altar) from the ground. The deep foundation is a 120-meter-long monoblock structure, composed of a network of concrete beams, and was engineered to withstand foundation sliding during earthquakes. The foundation itself was constructed between December 2011 and June 2012, with the basement completed by April 2013. The cathedral's main building is designed as a structure independent from the surrounding walls of the foundation, allowing it to move like a piston in a cylinder. An 8-centimeter insulation layer of expanded polystyrene is situated around the foundation, between the lead tank and the diaphragm walls. This layer facilitates the cathedral's movement in all directions during an earthquake. The cathedral is designed to withstand earthquakes of up to 9 magnitude on the Richter scale.

For the waterproofing of the cathedral, the Bog'Art engineering team, alongside Swiss engineer Franco Sticher, conducted extensive tests over three months in Romania and Switzerland. The materials tested included bitumen, bentonite, polyurethane, and lead foil. Due to its resistance to corrosion, the entire foundation of the cathedral was encased in a lead tank. In November and December 2011, over 120 welders worked to weld 10 thousand square meters of lead foil. Approximately 400 tons of lead were used in the cathedral's foundation, with the material being 4 mm thick horizontally and 3 mm thick vertically. Lead was chosen for its high plastic deformation capacity without breaking, a necessary quality given the building's massive weight. It is commonly used as a shell material in high-voltage power cables and as a protective sheath for underground or underwater cables to prevent water diffusion into the insulation.

On 22 July 2013, a contract was signed with the Austrian company Strabag for the construction of the building's superstructure. By June 2015, the height of the structure had been raised by more than half. To achieve the vaults, the upper part of the nave and the dome, to avoid putting pressure on the nave's floor, a metal scaffolding structure weighing 1,100 tons was installed. This structure was in the form of a trapezium with its base at 27 meters and was gradually raised up to 45 meters. On 8 April 2025, the seven-meter and seven-ton cross was installed on the dome of the National Cathedral of Romania.

To build the People's Salvation Cathedral, over 145 thousand cubic meters of heavy concrete, about 40 thousand tons of reinforcement, about 22 thousand tons of bricks, plus other materials were used, this brings the cathedral's weight to about 425 thousand tons, surpassing Saint Isaac's Cathedral (322 thousand tons) and making it the heaviest Eastern Orthodox Church building in the world. About 13% of the total concrete, sand, and steel quantity used in the Palace of Parliament was utilized for the People's Salvation Cathedral. The concrete used (C40/50) is the same grade employed for the Vidraru Dam, which demonstrated its resistance during the 1977 earthquake without sustaining any cracks. The thickest rebar used in the reinforced cement concrete (RCC) is the BTS500-S, measuring 32 millimeters in diameter.

For the cathedral's construction, 6,200 cubic meters of solid bricks produced in Câmpulung Muscel and 7,800 cubic meters of hollow bricks from Târgu Jiu were used. The clay for the solid bricks was sourced from the Grui hill near Câmpulung Muscel. The bricks used are absorbent, ensuring strong adhesion between the mortar layer and the brick when the first layer of plaster is applied, thanks to the brick's porosity. When the bricks are struck, they emit a metallic sound. The cathedral wall, viewed from outside to inside, has the following structure: hollow bricks, flexible reinforcements (steel bars), rigid metal structure (welded sheet metal reinforcement), flexible reinforcements, and solid bricks.

The idea of a national cathedral first emerged following the Romanian War of Independence (1877–1878), which was primarily fought between the Russian and Ottoman Empires. The church was intended to symbolize the victory of Orthodox Christians over Ottoman Muslims. The idea was shelved due to a lack of consensus on the design, location and funding. The Unification of the Romanian Principalities in 1859 led to a unitary organization of church structures in Moldavia and Wallachia within the Holy Synod (1872). The old Metropolitan Cathedral had proven to be overcrowded, especially during national holidays, such as the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Romania and the coronation of King Carol I of Romania (10 May 1881). Therefore, at King Carol I's desire, Romania's Assembly of Deputies and the Senate voted in favor of Law no. 1750 on the construction of the Cathedral Church in Bucharest, which was promulgated by King Carol I on 5 June 1884.

On 10 May 1920, King Ferdinand I sent a royal letter to Archbishop Miron Cristea, the first Metropolitan- Primate of Greater Romania, supporting the project, but this had no effect. In 1925, after the Romanian Orthodox Church became an independent patriarchate, Metropolitan Cristea now newly enthroned as the first Patriarch of All Romania, suggested Carol Park as a site, but Bibescu Vodă Square (Unirii Square) was chosen instead. There, in 1929, a cross ( calvary ) was raised, but lack of funds meant the construction was postponed and later abandoned. Patriarch Teoctist was the one who re-launched the project of building a National Cathedral. To this end, he sanctified a cross on 5 February 1999, as the cornerstone of the future cathedral in Unirii Square, which had previously been sanctified by Patriarch Miron Cristea. Meanwhile, there had been an epochal event, which was the visit by Pope John Paul II to Romania (7–9 May 1999).

On 16 February 2005, the Bucharest City Hall proposed Arsenal Hill to the Patriarchate as "the most suitable place to be available" for the structure, considering it the highest place in Bucharest. Following the Patriarchate's approval, the Government of Romania promoted Ordinance no. 19/17 March 2005, for the building of the People's Salvation Cathedral. Subsequently, the Chamber of Deputies voted to give the 110,000 square meter building site to the Romanian Patriarchate via a protocol on 13 February 2006. Arsenal Hill was recommended after three other locations had been proposed at different stages: Piața Unirii (1999), Alba Iulia Square (2001), and Carol Park (2004). The communist regime had previously demolished three churches (Alba Postăvari, Spirea Veche, and Izvorul Tămăduirii) and moved two others ( Schitul Maicilor and Mihai Vodă ) to build the civic center and the Palace of the Parliament (previously known as the House of the People). The cornerstone for the construction of the People's Salvation Cathedral was sanctified on 29 November 2007, officiated by Patriarch Daniel, the sixth Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Metropolitan-primate Miron Cristea first proposed the name of the cathedral on 10 May 1920. Speaking before the Holy Synod and King Ferdinand, he advocated for building a People's Cathedral to celebrate the birth of Greater Romania. Metropolitan Miron explained that the cathedral "will prove to be a visible symbol of our unity in faith and law". King Ferdinand then took the floor, referring to the project as a Church of Redemption, while Metropolitan Pimen Georgescu used a slightly different phrasing mentioning the People's Redemption Church.

The Romanian word "neam" is difficult to translate into English, because the term people does not properly convey the sense of unity of blood and lineage that "neam" suggests. It is perhaps better expressed by phrases like ethnic nation or kin. National identity, in this sense, is a kind of ancestor worship, a system of kinship in which national heroes, occupy the place of clan elders in defining a nation as a noble lineage. The word "mântuire" just like "neam", is specifically Romanian and is also a complex term. Although it is commonly translated as salvation, it retains a spiritual nuance that makes redemption a better alternative. Patriarch Daniel explained the choice of the name at the 2008 symposium "New Patriarchal Cathedral", stating: "this name is a manifestation of gratitude or thanksgiving, brought to God for the deliverance of the Romanian nation from oppression and alienation".