Friday, December 22, 2023, 12 noon00, at the Metropolitan Residence in Cluj-Napoca, the event was held on the occasion of the presentation of the project "Rehabilitation, restoration and introduction to the tourist circuit of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Cluj, SMIS 302121", based on the financing contract signed between the North-West Regional Development Agency , as the Management Authority for the Northwest Regional Program 2021 – 2027, and the Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac and Cluj, as the beneficiary of the funding.
At the opening of the event, His Holiness Father Andrei, Archbishop of Vad, Feleac and Cluj and Metropolitan of Cluj, Maramureș and Sălaj, gave a welcome speech, followed by the speech of the Minister of Finance, Mr. Marcel-Ioan Boloș, the president of the North Regional Development Council West, Mr. Emil Radu Moldovan, of the mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Mr. Emil Boc, of the head of the Management Authority for the North-West Regional Program 2021-2027, Mr. Petru Alboi-Șandru, as well as of the Most Reverend Father Benedict Bistrițeanul, the Bishop-vicar of the Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac and Cluj. The architectural solutions were presented to the assistance by the architect Diana Cânța from the Ateliercetrei Architecture Office. More details can be found at the address https://ateliercetrei.com/#/catedrala-mitropolitana/
The project "Rehabilitation, restoration and introduction into the tourist circuit of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Cluj-Napoca" involves, on the one hand, the sustainable valorization of the historical heritage through the restoration of the cathedral, and on the other hand, it involves the introduction of this important monument of Romanian art into the circuit tourism by implementing an access solution to the two galleries over the nave and to the space between the two domes over the pronaos. The interventions proposed by the project aim at:
– rehabilitation of the resistance structure;
– structural interventions necessary to achieve the proposed architectural objectives;
- building the set of stairs and walkways that will serve the tourist route, to be placed on the reinforced concrete elements present on the route;
– rehabilitation of the interior spaces, especially at: porch, nave and altar;
- rehabilitation of the interior spaces arranged at the basement level;
- continuation of the painting works in the mosaic technique;
– the architectural plastic of the facade, the compositional register of the windows, the upper decorative register;
– preservation and restoration of metalwork.
The project is financed under priority 7 of the program, an attractive region, through the call PRNV/2023/711/1 – Conservation, protection and sustainable and competitive valorization of cultural and historical heritage, including ensuring and/or improving access to them.
The project implementation period is 60 months, between 01.01.2024 – 31.12.2028. The total value of the project is 56,895,027.45 lei, of which 28,706,269.02 lei from the European Regional Development Fund, 5,065,812.19 lei from the national budget and the difference from co-financing.
The cathedral in the heart of Cluj has, through what it represents as a symbol, a major impact on the citizens, and through this intervention its value can be increased in the perception of Romanians. The project will have a strong cultural impact through the restoration of an emblematic historic monument for the city of Cluj-Napoca, which aims not only to consolidate it but also to stop, as far as possible, the causes that led to the degradation of its component parts.