In a glorious ceremony, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and Patriarch Daniel of Romania on Sunday, October 26, consacrated the iconography of the National Cathedral in Bucharest, the world’s largest Christian Orthodox church.
Dedicated to the Ascension of Christ and to Saint Andrew the Apostle, patron saint of Romania, the majestic cathedral was consecrated by the two Church leaders in 2018 and is also known as the People’s Salvation Cathedral.
Sunday’s celebration also marked the official opening of the cathedral, as well as the centenary of the Romanian Patriarchate and 140 years of Autocephaly of the Church of Romania.
Romania’s grandiose National Cathedral breaks all records
At 134 metres tall, the cathedral occupies a dominant position in Bucharest’s cityscape, being visible from all approaches to the city.
Besides being the tallest and largest Eastern Orthodox church building by volume and area in the world, the People’s Salvation Cathedral is the 3rd tallest domed church building in the world after Basilica of Our Lady of Peace (158 m) in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, and (137 m) in Vatican City.
The cathedral’s iconography consacrated on Sunday consists the largest collection of church mosaics in the world, covering about 25,000 square meters of surface, and the world’s largest Orthodox iconostasis at 23.8 meters long and 17.1 meters high.
“The holy Icons, both the portable ones and those depicted on the walls of the Churches, are carriers of divine grace, which is why we have such numerous miraculous icons,” the Ecumenical Patriarch said in his speech. “They connect the present with eternity, they raise us from the mundane of everyday life to the high and holy, they bring God close to man,” his All-Holiness added.
A project that took 150 years to materialize
The idea of a national cathedral first emerged following the Romanian War of Independence (1877–1878), fought between the Russian and Ottoman Empires, but a lack of consensus on the project’s details, followed by two world wars and decades of communist rule, all hampered the materialisation of the project.
Discussions were restarted in 1999, and the cornerstone for the construction of the People’s Salvation Cathedral was eventually sanctified on November 29, 2007, officiated by Patriarch Daniel, the sixth Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Construction works were officially started on December 15, 2010.
A reported 200 million euros ($216 million) have been spent on the project, with most of the money coming from public funds and around a quarter from donations.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
