Project description
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Alba Iulia is the main beneficiary of the Revitalization and The Public Accessibilityto the South Tower of the Medieval Roman Catholic Cathedral in Alba Iulia project, contracted through the Preservation and Revitalization Cultural and Natural Heritage program, funded by the SEE 2009–2014 Financial Mechanism.
The overall objective of this project is to facilitate public access to the South Tower of the Cathedral of Saint Michael in Alba Iulia – an objective heritage – and harness it by introducing the Tower in the touristic circuit, following its proper restoration and redevelopment.
As a secondary objective of the project, the Southern Portal of the Cathedral will be reopened with a newly-installed elevator that will allow access to people with disabilities.
The Archdiocese’s partner in this project is the Teleki László Foundation from Budapest.
The total value of the project is 377.065 lei, with a grant of 336.488 lei out of the total sum.
News
The seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Transylvania located in Alba Julia, was founded by the Hungarian King Saint Istvan in about 1009 AD.
The original cathedral was built in the second half of the 11th century: a basilica with three naves and one apse in a semicircular shape, extended with a circular baptistery on the southern side.
The plan of the old building can be distinguished on the floor of the actual cathedral, in stones of a different type.
The earlier construction was expanded at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, while retaining its original layout as a basilica. This later cathedral has a Latin Cruciform transept with three naves, two southern towers and a spire crossing. The two secondary apses originally integrated a semicircular sanctuary.
Located in the center of the recently rehabilitated citadel, at the appropriate height - the last level accessible to the public being of 27.64 m, the tower will provide a panoramic view of the citadel and of the historical monuments in its premises. This is meant to increase the number of tourists and the level of touristic atractiveness of Alba Iulia Citadel, a significant landmark of the Central-Eastern European space, which is expected to have a positive social, cultural and economical impact.
On 28 May 2015 started the works involving the project of restoration of the southern tower of the Roman-Catholic medieval Cathedral in Alba-Iulia, in order to make it accessible to the public. The construction works will be executed by SC Harbau SRL from Miercurea Ciuc, as the company was assigned as the winner of the public auction.
Supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.