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RUINS OF THE TENTH CENTURY CHURCH
FORMER STOREHOUSE
October 23, 2017
ARCHBISHOP’S PALACE
October 23, 2017RUINS OF THE TENTH CENTURY CHURCH
In 2011, during rehabilitation works of the fortress, a random discovery determined the archaeological research of the green area in front of the Roman Catholic Archbishop’s Palace. Excavations have highlighted the vestiges of a church.
The church’s dimensions are 20 meters on the east-west axis and 12 meters on the north-south axis, with a wall thickness of 1.2 meters. Experts believe that the church functioned between about 950-1050. From an architectural point of view, the church had a kind of a provincial Byzantine plan „in Greek inscribed cross”, characterized by a square central room framed by four pillars that could support a dome.
The place ceased to exist when the first cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Transylvania was built at the end of the 11th century. The Catholic cemetery overlapped and destroyed the ruins of the Byzantine church to a large extent.
However, the existence of this church highlights the importance of Alba Iulia, which, at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennia, probably hosted the core of a local political party. Also, the size of the construction, relatively large for those times, indicates the presence of a large community in this place.
Scientific consultant: Tudor Roșu, PhD historian
Translation made by: Ciprian Dobra, PR expert
In 2011, during rehabilitation works of the fortress, a random discovery determined the archaeological research of the green area in front of the Roman Catholic Archbishop’s Palace. Excavations have highlighted the vestiges of a church.
The church’s dimensions are 20 meters on the east-west axis and 12 meters on the north-south axis, with a wall thickness of 1.2 meters. Experts believe that the church functioned between about 950-1050. From an architectural point of view, the church had a kind of a provincial Byzantine plan „in Greek inscribed cross”, characterized by a square central room framed by four pillars that could support a dome.
The place ceased to exist when the first cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Transylvania was built at the end of the 11th century. The Catholic cemetery overlapped and destroyed the ruins of the Byzantine church to a large extent.
However, the existence of this church highlights the importance of Alba Iulia, which, at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennia, probably hosted the core of a local political party. Also, the size of the construction, relatively large for those times, indicates the presence of a large community in this place.
