Coronation Cathedral

About Coronation Cathedral

In the western part of Alba Carolina Fortress, inside a rectangular enclosure ringed by arcaded galleries, stands the church built for the most solemn moment of Greater Romania: the coronation of King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie on 15 October 1922. Work began in March 1921 to the plans of the architect Victor Gh. Ștefănescu, with the engineer Tiberiu Eremie, and was finished in the autumn of 1922; the church was consecrated on 8 October, a week before the ceremony. It is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, the latter chosen in memory of Michael the Brave.

The coronation itself did not take place inside. Ferdinand was a Catholic and would not be crowned by an Orthodox hierarch, so after the liturgy led by Patriarch Miron Cristea the king placed the Steel Crown on his own head, on a dais in front of the bell tower, and then crowned the kneeling queen. In 1948, after the Greek Catholic Church was abolished, the communist regime renamed the building the "Cathedral of Reunification" and the royal portraits were painted over; after 1989 they were uncovered again and the name Coronation Cathedral returned to use. The Orthodox Archdiocese of Alba Iulia, whose seat it has been since 1975, still calls it the Cathedral of Reunification.

The plan copies the Princely Church of Târgoviște, where the rulers of Wallachia were once anointed: an inscribed Greek cross, three domes and an open porch on columns. The decoration blends motifs from the age of Matei Basarab and Constantin Brâncoveanu, as a symbol of the union that Michael the Brave achieved here in 1600.

Good to know before you go

Getting there

By car: Alba Iulia is on the A1/A10 motorways, ~95 km from Cluj-Napoca (~1h10), ~70 km from Sibiu (~1 hour) and ~75 km from Deva (~50 minutes). The cathedral is in the western half of Alba Carolina Fortress, on Strada Mihai Viteazul, a few minutes' walk from Gate IV and right next to the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St Michael.

Public transport: the railway and bus stations are ~2 km away, about 25 minutes on foot along Strada Republicii and then through Gates I–IV of the fortress, or a few stops on the local buses to the fortress. Direct trains from Cluj, Sibiu, Deva and Bucharest.

Where to park

The cathedral has no visitor parking: the courtyard is reserved for the archdiocese. Park on the streets inside the fortress, in the town's paid zone, or in the larger car parks at Gate IV and below the walls, a few minutes' walk away.

Fees & discounts

Entry to the cathedral and courtyard is free. Candles and prayer lists are paid for at the church shop, as you wish.

Rules

This is a working cathedral: modest dress (shoulders and knees covered), quiet, no food or drink. During services do not walk around the nave or take photos; at other times ask at the church shop whether photography is allowed.

Facilities

church shop with books and religious items · garden in the enclosure courtyard · steps up to the church entrance · public toilets, cafés and restaurants in the fortress, a few minutes away · good mobile signal