The construction of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary took place between 1905 and 1911. It is located in the center of Constanța, on Ion Lahovary Street, at number 18.
The place of worship was built in the Byzantine-Romanian style, according to a project developed by the engineer Polizu. The interior painting was done between 1910-1914 by the painter Gheorghe Marinescu, a disciple of Nicolae Grigorescu, and is designed in the Renaissance style. The stained glass windows were made in Bucharest by the artist Hugo Gross, in a factory specializing in mirrors and stained glass.
The plan of the iconostasis was drawn by the architect G. Mandrea, and its sculpture, as well as the furniture, was made by C. M. Babic. In the period 1999-2000, the exterior mosaic, with an area of 60 square meters, was created by Gheorghe Firică, president of the Constanța branch of the Union of Plastic Artists, together with Marian Deaconu.
At a time when there was only one Orthodox church in Constanța, “Holy Apostles Peter and Paul” — the future cathedral — Father Nicolae Paveliu, with the blessing of His Holiness Pimen Pretura, Bishop of the Lower Danube, initiated a fundraising campaign for the construction of a new church.
The foundation stone was laid in 1906, and five years later, in 1911, the church was consecrated by His Holiness Nifon, Bishop of the Lower Danube. The church's patron saint, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, was chosen to correlate with the Romanian Navy festivities that took place on August 15, so that both holidays would be celebrated together by the residents of Constanta.
Sursa: heritageconstanta.com
