The Evangelical Cathedral of Sibiu is the cathedral of the Evangelical Church of the Augustan Confession in Romania and one of the most impressive buildings built in the Gothic style in Transylvania.Today the Evangelische Stadtpfarrkirche (German name) stands on the structure of the old Romanesque basilica from the 12th century; the present form resulted from the renovation of 1520, after a series of improvements, ending with the raising of the spiral staircase turret on the south portal of the cathedral.

In 1867, the church became a cathedral, after the transfer of the seat of the Saxon Lutheran episcopate from Biertan to Sibiu, hosting the largest community of Lutheran believers in Romania.

Outside the building, on the southern facade, there is a relief work entitled Prayer on the Mount of Olives, in which, although it has endured repeated restoration works, the scene in which Jesus kneels before the chalice, surrounded by an arid landscape, can be recognized. The work is believed to be made by a local workshop and inspired by the Gothic style that characterized Central European sculpture from the late 15th century.

One of the most beautiful frescoes is the one representing the Crucifixion, being framed by an architectural ensemble depicting both biblical and historical characters. The work is executed by the Austrian painter Johannes de Rosenau in 1445. The inventory of the church is particularly valuable and a good part can be admired by the public, while some cult vessels made of gilded silver attributed to the local craftsman Sebastian Hann are accessible only to members of the clergy .

The church is located in Huet Square in Sibiu and is dominated by a seven-level tower. This is a large edifice made in Gothic style, being the third largest, after the Black Church in Brașov and the Cathedral of Saint Michael in Alba Iulia. In 1914, the great organ was brought, being designated the largest organ in South-Eastern Europe.

The tallest building in Sibiu

The Evangelical Church is the tallest building in Sibiu, with a height of 73.34 meters. The building is notable for its high, seven-level tower, which has four other towers in the corners, which meant that the city of Sibiu had the right to decide the death sentence (ius gladii – in Latin it means “the right of the sword”). The central tower houses three bells.

The last level of the tower is reached by climbing the 192 steps, which provide access to the turrets, from where you can admire a panoramic view of the city. The height that can be reached is 55 meters. For several centuries, this tower was also used as a firehouse, from where possible fires were watched.

According to the legend related to the height of the tower of the Evangelical Church, representatives of the Sibiu Saxons, wanting to build the highest tower for their church, visited the Saxon community in Bistrita for inspiration. Once there, they measured the height of the church tower, unrolling a rope from the tower to the ground. The same evening they were invited to a feast by the Saxons from Bistrita, who secretly cut a part of their rope after getting them drunk. In this way, the Evangelical Church in Bistriţa remained the owner of the highest tower in Transylvania, measuring 75 meters.

The Evangelical Cathedral of the Augustan Confession in Sibiu has in its parish the largest community of Lutheran believers in Romania

History and architectural style

The Evangelical Church is still one of the most impressive Gothic-style buildings in Romania, over 600 years old, being built on the site of a church built in the 12th century.

The oldest structure of the edifice, according to a document from 1371, was the area where the chorus sang, but it is most likely that the basilica plan of the church had also been finalized then. In the same period, the construction of the tower, only partially erected at that time, had begun. Initially, the church dedicated to Saint Mary looked like a basilica with a transept (an architectural element specific to Catholic churches) and a sacristy (an annex of a church, where priestly vestments and consecrated vessels are kept), and the naves (“the central area, of the church or of a cathedral built in the Romanesque or Gothic style of architecture, extending between the entrance and its altar”) its sides were half the width of the main nave.

For less known reasons, the activity on the church site was interrupted, but after the year 1424, the works were resumed. At this stage, the walls of the central nave were raised by 2.60 meters and the side naves were widened. The rectangular spans (“portions of a construction or structure, comprising two points of support – posts, columns, beams, piles, etc. – and the opening between them”) of the nave were embellished with cross-shaped vaults on ogives (“the bow pointed as a way of supporting the vault of a building, an architectural solution characteristic of the Gothic period”). In 1448, the expansion of the church to the west began, through the construction of the narthex (room at the entrance to a church), known today as the ferula.

The general aspect of the church was modified on the southern wing, after 1474, when it was decided that the basilica should be transformed into a hall-type church. For this purpose, the outer wall was raised on the southern side, and the effect created inside, by changing the structure of the wall, was in the form of a side tribune, provided with a star vault.

In 1494, the church tower was finished, with a final addition of two more floors. Also then, a chapel was built above the southern portal, and in 1520 the turret with a spiral staircase was built on the same facade, thus ending the works.

In 1867, the Evangelical Church became the Evangelical Cathedral, as a result of the transfer of the seat of the Saxon Lutheran episcopate from Biertan (municipality in Sibiu County, known to be among the first German Saxon settlements in Transylvania), to Sibiu.

Unique exhibition inside the Evangelical Church

Ferula was separated from the central body of the church in 1853, being intended for more intimate ceremonies. Here there is currently a gallery of 67 funerary slabs, which constitutes a novel and unique exhibition in Romania. Among the oldest slabs exposed in the ferule of the church, we find those of Georg Hecht, former mayor of the city (1496) and Nicolaus Proll (1499), followed by that of Mihnea Vodă cel Rău – lord of Wallachia, between the years 1508 and 1509 and son of Vlad Țepeș (1510); the latter killed in front of the church.

Although the church served for 300 years for the burial of mayors, comites (counts, administrative leaders of some counties) and other such Transylvanian personalities, in 1796 this practice is prohibited; however, in 1803 an exception was made for Count Samuel von Brukenthal, whose lifeless body was deposited in the crypt near the pulpit (piece of furniture similar to a tribune, specific to Roman Catholic churches, used by priests to deliver sermons) .

Other points of interest in the interior of the Evangelical Church are the old stone pulpit, which dates back to 1520, and was made by the Saxon stonemason Andreas Lapicida, a baptismal font (“large vessel, usually in the shape of a cup, half filled with water, in which the priest immerses the child at baptism”) made of marble, preserved from the 17th century, the altar (“a place intended for the worship of deities or God in different religions”) from Dobârca, as well as other cult objects of great value.

Although part of the church’s movable inventory consisting of silver-gilt vessels made by craftsmen from Sibiu such as Sebastian Hann is accessible only to members of the clergy, numerous other precious religious objects can be admired by the public. Also here you can admire the second oldest clock in Romania, which dates back to 1881.

On the northern wall of the chorus area, there is an impressive fresco from 1445, depicting the scene of the Crucifixion, framed by an architectural setting made up of a suite of biblical and historical characters. The author of the work is Johannes de Rosenau, and the iconographic style combines Austrian and Italian influences. The painting underwent restoration work led by the restorer painter Liviu Ciungan between 1989 and 1990.

The chorus of the cathedral can be admired from the balcony, on the southern side, and houses an impressive organ, made in baroque style by a craftsman of Slovak origin, in 1671; this replaced the original organ, brought to Sibiu in 1585. At the beginning of the 20th century, in 1914, the great organ of the church was brought, this being considered the biggest organ in South-Eastern Europe.

In 2004, the Evangelical Church in Sibiu was included in the list of historical monuments in Sibiu county, like two other nearby buildings – the Evangelical parish house and the district consistory of the Evangelical Church C.A.