Nicula Monastery is an important pilgrimage center in the north of

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

. It is located in

Nicula Nicula is a Romanian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Claudia Nicula, Romanian sprint canoer * Daniel Nicula, Romanian footballer * Emilian Nicula See also *Nicula, a village in Fizeșu Gherlii Commune, Cluj County, Romania ** ...

village,

Cluj County Cluj County () is a county () of Romania, in Transylvania. Its seat is Cluj-Napoca. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian it is known as ''Kolozs megye''. Under the Kingdom of Hungary, a county with an identical name (Kolozs County, ) existed s ...

, in the vicinity of

Gherla Gherla (; ; ) is a municipality in Cluj County, Romania (in the historical region of Transylvania). It is located from Cluj-Napoca on the river Someșul Mic, and has a population of 19,873 as of 2021. Three villages are administered by the city: ...

. An unconfirmed tradition holds that the monastery was established in the 14th century. The first documentary mention dates to 1552, when it was an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

site. A 1659 reference notes that the monastery was vacant. It became

Greek-Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches that use the Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite: ** The Albanian Greek Catholic Church ** The Belarusian Gr ...

at the end of the 18th century, just after the creation of that church, and was dedicated to

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

. A radical restructuring took place in the same period, as attested by a wooden church from 1695, an iconostasis from 1694 and a bell from 1696.Adrian Andrei Rusu, ''Dicționarul mănăstirilor din Transilvania, Banat, Crișana și Maramureș'', p. 183. Cluj-Napoca: Editura Presa Universitară, 2000, An old place of Greek-Catholic pilgrimage, the church of the monastery housed over time the famous icon painted in 1681 by the artisan Luca of Iclod. According to a report by Austrian officers, the icon had been shedding tears between February 15 and March 12, 1699. In 1713 Transylvanian Governor Sigismund Kornis took the icon to the noble residence at

Kornis Castle Kornis Castle is a castle begun in the 16th century and located in Mănăstirea village, Cluj County, Romania. It is listed as a historic monument by the country's Culture Ministry. History The main building was built by Kristóf Keresztúri bet ...

in Benediugu Dejului, from where it reached

Cluj Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

.Robert Born: Nicula, in: Joachim Bahlcke, Stefan Rohdewald, Thomas Wünsch, Religiöse Erinnerungsorte in Ostmitteleuropa, Akademie Verlag 2013, pp. 209-222

History

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII (; ; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. He was installed on 16 July 1758. ...

granted in 1767 plenary indulgence to the Greek-Catholic pilgrims who were traveling to the Monastery of village Nicula during the Marian feasts of August 15 (Assumption of the Mother of God) and September 8 (Nativity of the Mother of God). In 1774, a single monk lived there. The stone church of the monastery was built next to the previously built wooden church, between 1875 and 1879, at the expense of the Gherla Diocese. Two spires of 25 meters were added in 1905. In 1928

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

granted this Greek-Catholic monastic sanctuary the status of Marian Sanctuary. The iconostasis was replaced in 1938, the furnishings date to 1913, the walls were repaired in 1925 and a summer altar was built in 1925. There is an 1899 guesthouse, a space for pilgrims (1913-1920, 1927) and a monks' residence (1926). The wooden church burned in 1973, and another one was brought in, dating to the 18th century. Through the school of artisans of icons from Nicula Monastery, Transylvania entered the

glass painting Painted glass refers to two different techniques of decorating glass, both more precisely known by other terms. Firstly, and more correctly, it means enamelled glass, normally relatively small vessels which have been painted with preparations of vi ...

technique, originated in Bohemia, Austria and Bavaria, areas where the tradition of glass manufactures was intertwined with the popular Catholic religiosity. In 1948, when the Greek-Catholic Church was outlawed by the nascent

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, the monastery was confiscated by the authorities and transferred to the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the East ...

, which continues to own and use it. Cristian Vasile
"Memorii incomplete (Cronică de carte)"
in ''22'', January 9, 2009

Notes

External links

Official site
{{coord, 47.0020, 23.9565, format=dms, type:landmark_region:RO, display=title Romanian Orthodox monasteries of Transylvania Christian monasteries in Romania Eastern Catholic monasteries in Europe Greek Catholic monasteries Romanian Greek Catholic Church Buildings and structures in Cluj County Catholic pilgrimage sites Eastern Catholic shrines Eastern Orthodox pilgrimage sites 16th-century Romanian Orthodox monasteries