Monastery Church, Sighișoara: Difference between revisions

The '''Monastery Church''', also known as the '''Church of the Dominican Monastery''' ({{lang-ro|Biserica Mănăstirii Dominicane}}), is a [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] church formerly part of a medieval [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] monastery in [[Sighişoara]], [[Romania]] The church was erected in 1289, and incorporates half of a Dominican monastery which was demolished in 1888.{{sfn|Mallows|2012|p=189}}{{dubious|other sources say in the 15th century|date=November 2014}} The monastery was one of a network planned by [[Paulus Hungarus]] (Paul the Hungarian) throughout the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] to act as a bulwark against [[heresy]].{{sfn|Spinei|2012|p=420}} Saxon nobleman Leonard Barlabassy gave the church an endowment.{{sfn|Crăciun|2011|p=64}}

== Architecture ==

Between the inside and outside of the church there are some stylistic differences. If in the interior the [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] style is prevailing, on the exterior the simple facades retain most of the elements of late [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] architecture. The west facade is the most impressive, dominated by a triangular pediment equipped with three very tall gothic windows. After the demolition of medieval buildings located in the space between the church and the Clock Tower, on the southern side were built three vertical columns, which end at the top with three arches supporting masonry church.

Inside the church architectural elements and artistic furniture typical of the early Baroque era are prevailing. Elements such as [[pillars]] and [[arch]]es, the [[altar]], [[pew]]s, canopy, painted organ and balconies and [[Transylvanian rugs]] that adorn the church.

The most important piece of furniture is a [[baptismal font]] made in bronze. This font is the oldest and most valuable piese of furniture art in the church. A [[Latin]] inscription is visible on the cup showing the scope of baptism: „Baptism banish the forces of evil and the devil” and specifying the name of the author of the artwork:”This work was made by the hands of Jacob, the one that makes bells, in the Year of Our Lord 1440”.

The font was made in a local workshop in Sighisoara; it is 108.5 cm high and has 60.3 cm of diameter. The cup bell contains the inscription mentioned and it’s decorated with biblical scenes and lilies.

A similar font, dating from the same period, is in the [[Sibiu Lutheran Cathedral]], but it doesn’t have the same „grace” as the one in Sighisoara.

File:Sighisoara Biserica Manastirii (1).JPG

*{{cite book|last1=Crăciun|first1=Maria|editor1-last=Crăciun|editor1-first=Maria|editor2-last=Fulton|editor2-first=Elaine|title=Communities of Devotion: Religious Orders and Society in East Central Europe, 1450 - 1800|date=2011|publisher=Ashgate|isbn=978-0754663126|pages=29–71|chapter=Mendicant Piety and the Saxon Community of Transylvania, c. 1450-1550|ref= harv}}

*{{cite book|last1=Mallows|first1=Lucinda|title=Transylvania|date=2012|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=978-1841624198|ref= harv}}

*{{cite book|last1=Spinei|first1=Victor|editor1-last=Curta|editor1-first=Florin|title=The Other Europe in the Middle Ages: Avars, Bulgars, Khazars and Cumans (|date=2012|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-9004163898|pages=413–456|edition=Volume 2|chapter=The Cuman Bishopric—Genesis and Evolution|ref= harv}}

{{coord missing|Romania}}

[[Category:13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings|Sighisoara Monastery]]