People’s Salvation Cathedral in Romania, One of the BIGGEST Churches in the World

Romanians seem to love monster buildings and to prove that statement correct, we’re going to talk today about the People’s Salvation Cathedral aka Catedrala Mântuirii Neamului.

This is a MASSIVE church with a floor area of around 6,000 square meters (64,000 square feet) and standing 135 meters high. There are even more impressive things to know about the People’s Salvation Cathedral in Bucharest, Romania, so read on!

Ceausescu has left behind, among many other horrors, the Palace of the Parliament aka Casa Poporului, a mammoth of megalomania stretching over 3,700,000 Square Feet and going 86 meters up.

For some reason, the Orthodox Church decided that they should leave their mark on the country as well and started another similarly hideous (or impressive, depending on your point of view) project, called Catedrala Mantuirii Neamului (People’s Salvation Cathedral).

And you can take that name literally if you think that the zombie apocalypse is coming, because the new cathedral will be horribly humongous.

catedrala mantuirii neamului
You can see it from a distance for sure

Apart from that, it’s nothing that a huge pile of megalomania, bad taste and poor choices. And, as if one wasn’t enough – it’s being built right behind the Palace of the Parliament.

I do have to admit that it will probably offer a big boost to tourism or at least offer a new attraction for those visiting the country. But the cathedral is not yet ready. Makes sense, since it’s so huge.

Things to know about the People’s Salvation Cathedral in Bucharest

Building started back in 2010, and it was estimated to be ready in 2020. Of course, that didn’t happen. Now, there are “hopes” that it will be ready in 2025 so there’s still some time left until you can fully admire it in its entire beauty.

However, starting 2018, the building was consecrated and there were some official gatherings there since then, although it’s not yet permanently open to the public.

There was also a name change in the process, with the official name being now “The National Cathedral” (Catedrala Nationala). A bit better than the horrible original name, although most people still refer to it as the People’s Salvation Cathedral.

peoples salvation cathedral

Now, here are a few important facts you should know about Romania’s mammoth cathedral:

  • It will be the tallest Orthodox church in the world when completed
  • iIt will have place for 6,000 worshipers
  • It will have the largest collection of church mosaics in the world
  • It already has the world’s largest Orthodox iconostasis
  • It has the largest free-swinging church bell in the world
  • It is the tallest domed cathedral in the world
  • It is also the largest Orthodox Church in the world by area and volume

The People’s Salvation Cathedral, once built, if fully populated, is said to be able to hold 125,000 people. That’s way more than the entire population of many cities in Romania!

The original plans were for the National Cathedral to have a restaurant with 1,000-person capacity, two hotels and parking spaces for 500 cars. Because, well, maybe you will want to stay in the Church’s rooms… (Not sure if these plans were changed in the mean time – hopefully they were – but it’s fun to know nevertheless.

So, as you can see, it is indeed a mammoth building that is breaking records. It is impressive BUT I really wonder if this is exactly where Romania had to pour so much money (€185 million by the end of Summer 2022 which, I have to admit, doesn’t sound as that much all things considered).

It is pretty obvious that the building has the potential to draw in some visitors to the country, but I always believe that it’s best to be smart and attract people with beautiful, impressive things – not just size.

Check out the National Cathedral aka People’s Salvation Cathedral below

Here is a recent video showing the building state in July 2022, but also showing how impressive it will be in size.

(Note that the “tiny” building you can see in the background is actually the Palace of the Parliament, which is the second largest administrative building in the world. Just to imagine how huge the cathedral is)

Can you visit the People’s Salvation Cathedral (The National Cathedral)?

No, currently the People’s Salvation Cathedral is not open to the public. While you can’t go inside the building, you can still see it from the outside, which is pretty impressive still.

If you want to get there, I have marked the place on Google Maps for you. But you literally can’t miss it. Ha!

Wrapping Up

The Church still has an extremely important role in Romania, with most people living in the villages (and many living in the cities) considering priests and the Church itself as the people/places to go to when they need advice.

The Church itself is heavily involved in politics, there are special tax rules (no tax, actually) for the Church and so far no politician wants to break the bonds and help the people evolve because it’s pretty simple: the Church can easily manipulate the people and the politicians need that.

However, I think that the People’s Salvation Cathedral will become soon just like Ceausescu’s House of the People: a bad memory of some not so great times when people could not or were not allowed to think for themselves.

And yes, the fact that they’re so close one to each other makes absolutely no sense to me… but that’s how things sometimes happen in Romania.

What do you think about the People’s Salvation Cathedral? Do you think it’s a nice idea to have it built? Is it something you’d like to see when ready?

Calin
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11 thoughts on “People’s Salvation Cathedral in Romania, One of the BIGGEST Churches in the World”

  1. I get the feeling you don’t really like this project !!! Hah hah hah C! I love this rant :-). I was laughing all the way through. It totally sounds like another megalomaniacal move by religious zealots!!!! I think everyone is so focused on building the next big thing that will draw people, and you know religion is the biggest bullshit ever. Full of thieves… and no taxes either, these false prophets are doing the same thing in Nigeria :-(. There is this one “church” whose weekly service draws over 2.5 million people, and people are stuck on the roads for hours on end. My sister once got caught up in the traffic. The 2.5 hr journey took over 15 and people just slept in the cars overnight , she got home the next day..this looks gigantic !!!!

    Reply
    • I hope it will help the country and draw in more tourists, but on the other hand, I don’t want tourists to be drawn to see freaks and monsters… It saddens me to see that the Churches still have such a massive influence over the people in the 21st century and that people still consider God/faith and the Church the same thing….

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  2. I really can’t add much to what has already been said (but I will anyway) . In such a poor country with crumbling infrastructure, weak economy and its young emigrating to other parts of the world, Romania couldn’t think of a better way to spend 300 million Euros? According to http://www.europa.eu, Romania gets a net 4.2 billion Euros from the European Union. I think this is a scandal and the EU should deduct it from their spending in Romania. But no, religion is a sacred cow in most nations and no one will do any such thing. As an atheist, I just shake my head at the thought that grown men and women still believe in supernatural beings. I’m sorry, there is simply no excuse for it. It is a mental illness if there ever was one. Well, I hope the restaurant at least serves good food for a low price…

    Reply
    • surely the 3rd largest economy in Eastern Europe can’t afford a church… using your logic all of Romania’s neighbors can’t afford to have a government building… since Romania has a better economy than all of its neighbors.
      also, you know its worse to believe in god and him not existing than not believing in him but he exists,
      but hey, lets take on the idea the universe created itself on its own… smh.

      Reply
    • What about all the atheist tyrants that destroyed Europe? (Hitler, Stalin, Ceausescu, etc, etc).
      Are the holy Romanian people wrong for going back to a system that has ensured the stability of European civilizations for thousands of years?
      I bet you won’t respond considering there isn’t an atheist argument against what I just said.

      Reply
  3. The National Cathedral was a long time promise to the Romanian people. In 1884, the chamber of deputies and the senate voted on this project after it was requested by King Carol I. In 1920 King Ferdinand I supported the project, but it was never completed due to the economic crisis, WWII and then years of communism. The Romanian people are Orthodox and deserve a National Cathedral just like other countries. After years of misery and waiting, the Romanian people deserve their faith to be respected.

    Reply
    • I agree with that. But modesty should also be part of the vocabulary – this is how we’re taught to be the church. This really doesn’t go hand in hand with creating a humongous building, larger than everything that the world has seen 🙂

      Reply
  4. Atheists here fail to understand that after 70 years of atheist tyranny, Romania wants to give you the middle finger. The Romanian way! As huge as possible! 🤣🤣🤣

    Reply

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