Saint George church in Sfântu Gheorghe

About

St. George's Church (Romanian: Biserica Sfântul Gheorghe) is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 1 Piața Andrei Șaguna, Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania. It is dedicated to Saint George.

The town’s Romanian community had a wooden church as early as 1750. In 1790, the authorities of the Principality of Transylvania approved the construction of a new Orthodox church. Another wooden church was built on the site of the old one.

Later, in 1802, a stone spire was added, which survives to this day. After 1850, the local Romanians began to demand a new church and school, both of which had fallen into disrepair. Their petitions asking to build in the town center, sent starting in 1862, went unanswered.

Thus, they decided to rebuild the extant structures. In 1870, Metropolitan Andrei Șaguna sent an appeal for donations, which came from Transylvania as well as Romania. Șaguna consecrated the new church in 1872.

In 1916, during World War I, the church was used as a prison and then a barn for the horses of German troops, suffering serious damage. The priest was imprisoned from 1915 to 1917, charged with high treason. The church was repaired between 1919 and 1922, and new bells were donated.

Metropolitan...