The Romanian People Salvation Cathedral

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The Romanian Senate voted favorably on October 12, 2004 for the construction of a Romanian Orthodox cathedral in Bucharest. This is to be built according to a new project. However, details of this particular project were unveiled in 1877, when Romania became a modern nation, having fought in and won the Independence War against the Ottoman Empire.

Named "Catedrala Mântuirii Neamului Românesc" (The Cathedral for the Salvation of Romanian People), the construction project and especially its location have been subject of heated national debates. The current project explicitly displays architectural detail from all Romanian provinces and territories.

The official name is "the Cathedral for the Salvation of Romanian People" - Catedrala Mântuirii Neamului Românesc. A wrong translation is "Romanian National Salvation Cathedral", which would be translated into Romanian as Catedrala Română pentru Mântuirea Naţiunii.

Select committees of the Romanian Senate and the Mayor of Bucharest had been reviewing different variants well in advance of October 2004. This edifice will also serve as the Cathedral for the Patriarchate of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

The first proposed location was in Carol Park, in the place of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Bucharest, but after protests by the press and by Bucharesters, as well as conflicts with the then-Mayor of Bucharest, Traian Băsescu, the site was changed to Izvor Park (right near the Palace of the Parliament).

The cost of the cathedral is estimated at more than €500 million (including the price of the land).^[1] The chosen project is supposed to have a height of 114 m, being taller than the Palace of the Parliament.