historical

Monasteries and churches
Outstanding in their historical importance and architectural style are The Roman-Catholic Cathedral in Alba Iulia (of the XIII^th century), The Orthodox Cathedral also in Alba Iulia, another in Blaj, also some churches in Aiud, Cricau, Lupsa, Sebes, Santimbru, Teius, Zlatna, Ighiu etc., The Monastery of Ramet and The Monastery of the Baziliens with "The Community School" in Blaj. Top

The Coronation Cathedral in Alba Iulia
Catedrala Încoronării It was built between 1921-1922 and its initial purpose was to host the Coronation of King Ferdinand the I^st and Queen Maria as sovereigns of the new Unified Romania.
The church was built in the shape of a Greek cross, with an open porch, supported by strong columns with decorative caps, a narrow nave, pronaos and altar. In the narthex there are the portraits of the first founders of the Balgrad Metropolitan Seat: Michael the Brave and Lady Stanca and in the nave there are the pictures of the founders Ferdinand and Maria. Top

The Roman-Catholic Cathedral in Alba Iulia
     catedrala catolică It was built in several stages after the Tatar invasion, which took place between 1241-1242, and it overlapped other previous buildings of the Roman and early feudal period.
    The Roman-Catholic Cathedral in Alba Iulia is appreciated by the architecture specialists as the most valuable monument of architecture in Transylvania. It is extremely representative of the great artistic epoch of the middle age period (Romanic, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque) through its successive stages of buildings.
    The funeral monuments are priceless to historians. Among them are the ones wich house the mortal remains of some of the Bishops of Alba Iulia, particulary the sarcophages of the Family of Hunedoara: John the Young and Iancu of Hunedoara.   Top

The Roman camp and the medieval city of Alba Iulia
     Poarta I a Cetăţii The latest archeological discoveries show that the old City of Alba Iulia is overlapped on the Roman camp walls. Built in the second century A.D., it was the headquarters for the XIII^th Roman Legion Gemina. Vestiges of these defence works of carved stone walls, some 4 m high, have been preserved to date.
    The walls of the old city were used from Roman times till the XVIII^th century. The name Balgrad (the Withe City), given to the City during the VII^th and VIII^th centuries, came from the walls of the Roman camp.
    In 1442 the City offerred shelter to Iancu of Hunedoara after he was temporary defeated at Santimbru. In 1516 the City restored under the order of king Vladislav. During the XVI^th and XVII^th centuries, reinforcement works were carried out, especially in the times of the princes Gabriel Bethlen, George Rakoczi I and Gheorghe Rakoczi II.   Top

The bulwark city of the XVIII^th century in Alba Iulia
The occupacy of Transylvania at the end of the XVII^th century by the Austro-Hungarian Empire determined the building of a new defending wall in Alba Iulia. The new City, wich still remains even today, was built up between 1714 and 1736, following the plans of the italian arhitect Giovani Visconti, and completed by the engineer General Weiss.
The City was conceived as a great defence-work which included about 80 hectares area, in Vauban style, simple, it has seven large classical bulwarks with corners fortified on the southern and northen sides, with large windows built into the walls and protected by an anti attack buttress, which, on the eastern side, appears in the shape of high mounds of earth, upheld by a short brickwall at its base. Top

The National Museum of Unification in Alba Iulia
Muzeul Naţional al Unirii This establishment was founded in 1887 and it occupies two important buildings in the middle of the City: The Babilon Building, built up in 1851 and The Unification Hall Building, built up in 1906. The museum exhibits over 130000 pieces of priceless works included in its patrimony, starting with a prehistoria section, then Dacian-Roman and feudal sections, the great battles with the Turks, the Revolution in 1848, the Unification of the Principalities in 1859, the Unification of Transylvania with Romania etc.
Sala Unirii The Unification Hall was highlightened in 1895 as the Military Casino of the Garrison in Alba Iulia, but its distinctive historical signification is given by the fact that it hosted, on the First of December 1918, the Rally of the 1228 Romanian delegates from all Transylvania, who decided the Unification of this ancient province with Romania. Top

The Princely Palace
Mihai Viteazul Due to the fact that it housed Michael the Brave during The First Unification, on the facade of this building was placed, in 1975, a huge bas-relief of bronze which symbolizes the event that took place in 1600 and in front of the Palace lies the equestrian statue of the Prince, created by the sculpturer Oscar Han. Top