Description
The church has two clock towers, each 45 m high. There are three narrow vertical windows above the entrance, meant to help illuminate the interior. The main door is surrounded by rich ornamentation; above it there is a bas-relief of the Trinity with the Latin inscription Honori Sanctissimae Trinitatis ("In Honour of the Most Holy Trinity"). There are two smaller doors to the left and the right of this one; above each of them is a sculpture of a saint resting in a niche – Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, works of the Bavarian artist Johannes König. Previously, statues of saints John of Nepomuk and Aloysius Gonzaga, also by König, stood near the side entrances.
In contrast to the simple exterior, the interior is lavishly ornamented. The building has a single nave, 45 m long and 24 m high. There are three chapels on the sides, each with its own altar and adorned with several paintings. On the walls are to be found the devotional plaques common to Roman Catholic churches, written in Transylvania's main historical languages: Romanian, Hungarian, German and Latin.
The main altar near the choir is grandiose. On the upper part is the Latin inscription Magno Deo uni ac trino laus virtus gloria ("To the one and triune great God praise, honour and glory"), between two angels. The altar is dedicated to the Trinity. Upon it rests an icon of the Virgin Mary, painted on wood and framed in metal; a number of people reported that it shed tears over a two-week period in 1699. This may be the original wonder-working icon from Nicula. Below it are two statues of Jesuit saints, Francis and Ignatius, brought from Vienna in 1726.
The pulpit, the work of Anton Schuchbauer, is decorated on the outside with relief carvings of the Four Evangelists, and in between the pulpit and its crown there is a bas-relief with the most important Jesuit saints. Saint Michael is depicted on the pulpit's crown.
Underneath the church building there is a crypt with 140 graves.
Read more about this topic: Piarist Church, Cluj
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