The Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, Lugoj

The Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Descent of the Holy Spirit was built between 1843-1854 in neoclassical style by architect L. Oettinger.

After the consecration, Bishop Alexandru Dobra (1853-1870) took care of the interior of the parish church in Lugoj, which later became the episcopal cathedral.

The original painting was made in 1868 by the painter Moritz Breyer, being restored between 1929-1934 by the academician painter Prof. Virgil Simonescu and extended according to the plans and at the expense of the bishop Alexandru Nicolescu. The technique used was the tempera, according to the recipes and colors, respectively the materials given by a profile factory in Düsseldorf (Germany).

The inauguration of the restored painting took place on 7 October 1934 in the presence of King Carol II and the members of the government.

Confiscated by the Communist regime in 1948 and given to the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Cathedral was restituted to the Diocese of Lugoj on 21 January 1990 by decision of the Orthodox Metropolitan Nicolae Corneanu, being the first Greek Catholic cathedral returned to its original owners in the country.

Text and photo sources: https://ro.wikipedia.org/; http://vestour.ro/; https://www.facebook.com/episcopia.lugoj/