{"id":525828,"date":"2025-05-07T11:20:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T08:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=525828"},"modified":"2025-05-07T11:20:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T08:20:37","slug":"sulina-church-restoration-romania-sunrise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/sulina-church-restoration-romania-sunrise\/","title":{"rendered":"Restoration plans finalized for Romania\u2019s easternmost church, first in Continental Europe touched by sunrise"},"content":{"rendered":"

The technical documentation for the restoration of the \u201cSaints Nicholas and Alexander\u201d Church in Sulina\u2014known as \u201cthe first church in Continental Europe to be touched by the sun\u201d\u2014has been finalized, representatives of the institution announced. The church’s history is closely tied to Romania\u2019s War of Independence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Agerpres<\/a>, the church was built at the initiative of King Carol I in honor of the liberation of Dobruja. It was dedicated to Saint Alexander because, on August 30, 1877\u2014his feast day\u2014the Romanian army captured the Grivi\u021ba 1 redoubt.<\/p>\n

In a feature story<\/a> about the city of Sulina, the Spanish newspaper El Pa\u00eds highlighted the cosmopolitan charm of the former Danube port, calling it \u201cKilometer Zero of a river that tells the story of Europe.\u201d The publication quoted parish priest Fr. Marian M\u0103c\u0103il\u0103 Ivanov, who described the \u201cSaint Nicholas and Saint Alexander\u201d Cathedral as \u201cthe first church in Continental Europe touched by the rising sun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Historical and Cultural Significance<\/h2>\n

Built in the Neo-Romanian style based on plans by architect Nicolae C. Mih\u0103escu, the \u201cSaints Nicholas and Alexander\u201d Church features interior frescoes by Gheorghe R\u0103ducanu and exterior Murano glass mosaics by Dumitru Norocea.<\/p>\n

The building has a triconch layout, three domes, and seven crosses on the roof. The narthex is wide and consists of three aisles; the nave has curved apses, and the altar is semicircular on the inside. The church also includes a choir loft and two entrance porches.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe church houses two objects of exceptional historical value: the iconostasis, created by Gheorghe Tattarescu, and an episcopal chair that was one of the thrones of Alexandru Ioan Cuza,\u201d stated Fr. Marian M\u0103c\u0103il\u0103 Ivanov.<\/p>\n

Financial Support<\/h2>\n

Thanks to donations and the church’s successful acquisition of the required permits, the bent cross atop the church dome will be restored between May and June. However, the structure still requires extensive repairs, especially to its load-bearing elements.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2022, the Ministry of Culture, through the National Heritage Institute, launched a restoration project for the church, which included the project brief and conceptual note\u2014funded by the ministry,\u201d explained Fr. Ivanov.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow comes the most difficult but decisive step: completing the Intervention Works Approval Documentation. We also hope that funding will be secured\u2014around \u20ac50,000\u201360,000\u2014for Sulina.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe then we\u2019ll be able to apply for European funds and actually begin the restoration work,\u201d Fr. Ivanov added.<\/p>\n

The parish priest noted that earlier restoration efforts initiated in 2006 and backed by the Ministry of Culture\u2014with technical designs completed in 2008\u2014were suspended due to the financial crisis.<\/p>\n

Photo: Diocese of Tulcea<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The technical documentation for the restoration of the \u201cSaints Nicholas and Alexander\u201d Church in Sulina\u2014known as \u201cthe first church in Continental Europe to be touched by the sun\u201d\u2014has been finalized, representatives of the institution announced. The church’s history is closely tied to Romania\u2019s War of Independence. According to Agerpres, the church was built at the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":288729,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[34975,34974,27693],"class_list":["post-525828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dioceses","tag-romania-sunrise-church","tag-sulina-church-restoration","tag-war-of-independence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}