The Cernatu Church is a

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

church located on Bisericii Române Street,

Săcele Săcele (; German: ''Siebendörfer''; Hungarian: ''Négyfalu'', between 1950 and 2001 ''Szecseleváros'') is a city in Brașov County, Romania, in the Burzenland area of southeastern Transylvania, with a population of 30,920 inhabitants in 202 ...

, Romania. Located in Cernatu, a former village that is now a district of Săcele, it is 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 ...

. According to a census of 1760-1762, the Romanian Orthodox community of Cernatu had no priest or church. It is likely they built a wooden church soon after, as a 1770 document mentions its being in need of repairs. In 1779, the parish wrote a letter in

Romanian Cyrillic The Romanian Cyrillic alphabet is the Cyrillic alphabet that was used to write the Romanian language and Church Slavonic until the 1830s, when it began to be gradually replaced by a Latin-based Romanian alphabet.Cyrillic remained in occasional ...

to the authorities of the Hapsburg Monarchy for permission to build a stone church. The favorable response came in Latin the following year, shortly before the

Patent of Toleration The Patent of Toleration (, ) was an edict of toleration issued on 13 October 1781 by the Habsburg emperor Joseph II. Part of the Josephinist reforms, the Patent extended religious freedom to non-Catholic Christians living in the crown lands ...

was issued. The parishioners purchased land in 1783. No stone inscription plaque survives, so information about construction and ''

ktetor ''Ktetor'' () or ''ktitor'' (; ka, ქტიტორი ; ), meaning 'founder', is a title given in the Middle Ages to the provider of funds for construction or reconstruction of an Eastern Orthodox church or monastery, for the addition of icons ...

''s is lacking. However, the church was likely also completed in 1783, the date carved into the stone vessel holding water for the priest to wash his hands.Description
at the Săcele tourist office site The stone and brick church is shaped like a trefoil cross, with two apses. The church is 23 meters long, 8.5 meters wide and 10 meters high from foundation to roof. The walls are a meter thick. The interior is divided into altar, nave and

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

with porch. The floor is of square stone blocks, except in the altar, where it is made of fir beams. The semi-cylindrical brick nave ceiling is supported by four arcades, which also hold up the central, cylindrical spire. The windows are

ogival An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two- or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture, woodworking, and ballistics. Etymology The French Orientalist Georges Séraphin Colin gives as ...

. The spherical altar has a stone table. The wooden

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

features gilt decorations and icons in oil paint. The walls were repainted in 1994; only a small fragment of the original, Byzantine style frescoes survives. The roof is made of tiles; it has been repaired once, in 1973. Above the windows on the exterior, there is a decorative row of bricks. Icons of saints, done in fresco by anonymous artists, surround the church on the outside; part of these have been effaced by exposure. The nearly square parish cemetery surrounds the church. It covers 3000 square meters and has a brick wall. The church is listed as a

historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, as are the bell tower and wall.Lista Monumentelor Istorice 2010: Județul Brașov
File:Biserica Cernatu 2.png, Entrance File:Biserica Cernatu 3.png, Bell tower File:Biserica Cernatu 4.png, Artwork detail

Notes

{{coord, 45.61498, 25.69369, format=dms, type:landmark_region:RO, display=title Săcele Historic monuments in Brașov County Churches completed in 1783 Romanian Orthodox churches in Brașov County