The Metropolitan Cathedral of Timisoara, the silent witness in the middle of the city and Portal of Freedom

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Timisoara, the silent witness in the middle of the city and Portal of Freedom

Merry Christmas to all of you

It's Christmas Eve and there is already a great bustle in the kitchens of the households and on the streets of western Romania, since evening groups of carol singers have been sharing the joy and magic of Christmas.

Now I have to admit that the charm that Christmas had more than 25 years ago is not to be found nowadays, but even so, joy and love come from each and every one of us.

They say that these holidays should be spent with family, so I did, I chose to spend them at home quietly with all my family members, but wait, you, this amazing community, are part of my family too, so I couldn't miss these moments here.

For today I have chosen to share with you a spiritual place with an important significance for the Romanian people, in my last post I showed you the Christmas market in Timisoara (thank you for stopping by) so today we stay in the center of Timisoara to show you the Metropolitan Cathedral.

Let's go inside and find out more about this wonderful place.

The Metropolitan Cathedral in Timisoara is dedicated to the Three Hierarchs.
Its impressive dimensions: 83.7 meters high, 63 meters long, 32 meters wide and with a capacity of 5000 people, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Timisoara is one of the largest churches in the country. Construction began on March 16, 1936. The cathedral is located at the crossroads of the city's most important arteries and is supported by over 1000 reinforced concrete pillars. It was inaugurated 10 years later, watched by King Mihai I and Prime Minister Petru Groza. The details and finishing touches of the imposing edifice were not completed until 1956, as the Second World War left its mark here in the town so dear to the people of Banat.

Legend has it that during a German air raid in October 1944, 6 bombs fell on the cathedral. Of the six, only one exploded. Damage was extensive - but limited, so the faithful claim that the Lord defended His House.

From an architectural point of view, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Timișoara represents very well the Moldavian style, with some eclectic accents. The arrangement of the bricks - one row of red, one of white - is also easily recognizable - a typical Byzantine style. The interior combines the Romanian religious tradition with the Byzantine-Moldovan one, which is typical of 14th-century monasteries. The relics of St. Joseph the New from Partoș can be found in the right side of the cathedral's pronaos. Saint Joseph the New was canonized and transferred to the cathedral on 28 February 1950.

The basement of the Metropolitan Cathedral houses an impressive collection of church art. Some 3000 rare church books, over 800 paintings and icons are housed here. The part under the altar contains the necropolis of the Banat metropolitans.

Interesting is the origin of the cathedral bells: weighing 7 tons, they were made of a metal alloy brought from Indonesia, more precisely the islands of Jawa and Borneo. They were also tuned by Romanian composer Sabin Drăgoi.

I'm glad to have shown you a special place and I hope you liked it, but wait, I haven't reached the end yet, after leaving the church I took a walk on the illuminated sidewalks here in the center of Timisoara to show you another place full of history.

We walked about 300 meters and, after crossing the Bega river, we reached the Portal of Freedom.

What is this Portal?

The Portal of Liberty is a rather large construction (it was inaugurated just this month) commemorating 35 years since the December 1989 revolution here in Romania.

Even though it was already evening, I met many people who came here either out of curiosity (like me) or to mourn the people they lost in the revolution.

My dear friends here in the west of Romania, I once again send you my best wishes and Merry Christmas.

THE END!

If you liked what you saw and read here please don't forget to give a LiKe, Follow, reBlog or a Comment, for all this I thank you, and until the next post I say goodbye.

P.S. The attached picture you have just seen are taken by me with my mobile phone(Samsung Galaxy S21), and the text is also designed by me.

Yours @triplug😉