Curtea de Argeș Cathedral

The Curtea de Argeș Cathedral is a large and well-known holy, royal, and historical Romanian Orthodox cathedral located on the grounds of the Curtea de Argeș Monastery in Curtea de Agreș, Argeș County, Romania. The cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Argeș and Muscel of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The cathedral is dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God, the holy feast of the Holy Theotokos, and was built and constructed in the year 1517, primarily out of limestone, although according to Romanian semi-mythical legend, the cathedral was built in the 13th century by the chief architect Meșterul Manole, after he supposedly was forced to sacrifice his pregnant wife by encasing her alive in the walls of the cathedral, after he had found and discovered that it was impossible to built the cathedral (without it crumbling and falling apart) without committing acts of human sacrifice and avoid being punished and murdered by Radu Negru, the legendary ruthless king of Wallachia, who wanted to built the most beautiful cathedral in his country. This story is one of many old Romanian semi-mythical legends and traditions about the Royal Curtea de Argeș Cathedral, which signifies the obvious legendary importance of the Royal Cathedral.

This well-known royal cathedral is also the burial place for various members of the Romanian and Wallachian royalty throughout it's history, including various kings, queens, princesses, and princes of both Romania and Wallachia. Romanian kings Carol I of Romania, Ferdinand I of Romania, Michael I of Romania, and Carol II of Romania, and Romanian queens Elisabeth of Romania, Marie of Romania and Anne of Romania, and the Romanian Queen Mother Helen of Romania, as well as Romanian princesses Maria of Romania and Ioana of Romania, and Prince Mircea of Romania and the Prince Regent Nicholas of Romania, as well as Wallachian princes Neagoe Basarab V of Wallachia, Petru of Wallachia, Ion of Wallachia, Radu V of Wallachia, and the famous Wallachian princess consorts Despina and Ruxandra, as well as Wallachian princesses Angelina of Wallachia, and Stana of Romania, were all buried on the grounds of this cathedral in special royal religious ceremonies made just for them, thus signifying the massive and well-known historical, royal, and religious importance of the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral in both Wallachia and Romania, for centuries.

The old royal semi-mythical legends, motifs, and rumors (such as the story of Meșterul Manole who supposedly sacrificed his pregnant wife alive in the walls of the cathedral) about the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral, have largely inspired the works of several Romanian poets and writers, such as the celebrated Vasile Alecsandri. As a result of it's significance and importance to the history of both Wallachia and Romania, the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral is one of the iconic symbols of both Wallachia and Romania.

On 16 December 2017, the former king Michael I of Romania who was forced to abidcate from his royal position as king and leave Romania in 1947 after the Soviet Communist takeover in Romania, after his death in Switzerland on 5 December, 11 days prior, was buried in a special royal ceremony in the grounds of the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral, after his body was flown back to Romania. Tens of thousands of Romanians came to the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral and attended King Michael's funeral and publicly mourned for him during his funeral.^[1] In addition, European royals King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, his wife Queen Silvia of Sweden, King Juan Carlos I of Spain and his wife Queen Sofia of Spain, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, as well as Charles, Prince of Wales, and Belgian royals Princess Astrid of Belgium and Prince Lorenz of Belgium, also flew to Romania to attend the funeral of King Michael I of Romania at the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral that same day.^[2][3] King Michael I was buried alongside his wife Queen Anne of Romania (died in 2016) who was also buried 1 year earlier in the grounds of the cathedral, alongside numerous other Romanian and Wallachian kings, queens, princes, and princesses, who were buried here earlier as well.^[4]

On 18 October 2019, the body of Queen Mother Helen of Romania, who was the mother of King Michael I, was returned from the Bois-de-Vaux Cemetery in Switzerland and flown back to Romania and was subsequently buried in the grounds of the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral, next to the bodies of her son King Michael I and his wife Queen Anne of Romania.^[5]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Curtea de Argesh". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 650–651.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Curtea de Argeș Monastery.

• Monastery website (in Romanian and English)