Visit St Michael’s Church & Tower Viewpoint in Cluj-Napoca.

St Michael’s Church is one of Cluj-Napoca’s iconic buildings, located in Unirii Square in the city’s heart. It took me a while to visit the Catholic church properly, as it had been under repair during all my previous visits and was wrapped in scaffolding. The church is known locally as Catedrala Romano-Catolică Sfântul Mihail. It is one of many churches that you can visit in the city centre while sightseeing.

The Roman Catholic Church of St Michael is a grand and historic church with a prominent tower. They designed using the Gothic and Baroque styles of architecture, and the new tower is in the Gothic Revival style. This cathedral is wonderful to admire from the outside, especially when viewed alongside the nearby statues. After years of renovations, visitors can now visit inside. This is one of many interesting churches to visit in Romania.

Facts About St Michael’s Church in Cluj-Napoca

• This is the second-largest church in Transylvania, with the Black Church in Brasov being the biggest.
• Groundbreaking initially started in 1316.
• They completed the cathedral’s original construction by 1447.
• However, the cathedral has continually evolved, and the tower that stands today was erected in 1862.
• The tower of St Michael’s Church is 76 metres high, thus the highest tower in Transylvania.
• The church’s nave is 50 metres long and 24 metres wide.
• The apse of the church is 20×10 metres.
• Multiple denominations have used the church throughout history. Roman Catholics, Lutheran Protestants, Calvinists and the radical Unitarians.
• Many significant historical events took place at the church. Wikipedia has a full timeline of these.

Inside The Church

St Michael’s Church in Cluj-Napoca is free to visit in the main rooms and is an active church. The main nave and interior are lovely to see and have some interesting decorative features. The vaults and stained-glass windows are nice.

They decorated the west portal of the church with the three coats of arms of Sigismund. This covers his key roles as King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor.

The organ master Johanne Sibiu Hahn made the church’s organ in 1753. He built many organs in the era. It’s apparently still going strong, but I’m yet to hear it in action.

Opening Times

The church is open to visitors when there isn’t a mass between 7 am and 7 pm on weekdays; however, it has a few masses each day, so if visiting to have a mooch, those times are best avoided.

There are three masses at St Michael’s on Sunday morning. These take place at 8:30 am, 10 am, and 11:30 am. There is an evening Mass on Sundays too, at 6 pm. During the week, there are two Masses: 7:30 am and 6 pm.

Guided Tours of St Michael’s Church in Cluj-Napoca

They also offer guided tours of the church building, which is rather nice, and you can see parts that are not open to the public. I inadvertently ended up on the tour by accident. Apparently, the tour takes place a few times a week, and you can arrange one in advance.

The tour I attended was in Romanian, so my understanding was limited. However, the tour took me to some fascinating parts of the church. First was a spiral staircase that takes you to see the main aisle from above, then into the rafters of the building.

There were lots of ruins in the rafters, and it was fascinating to see them, especially alongside the big wooden beams that support the roof.

From the rafters, it was another climb to the bell tower and past the church bells.

Finally, there was the viewing platform where you could see a lot of Cluj-Napoca from above, which was rather fascinating and a splendid sight. The walkway around the tower is rather narrow; thus, leave any large bags at your place when visiting.

Sadly, it was a cloudy day during my visit; however, I have earmarked a revisit at sunset on a clear day to get an extra-special view.

As a bonus, we got to see some bats that call the tower walls home, which was fascinating to see up close.

Views From St Michael’s Cathedral Tower

The top of the church’s tower offers wonderful views, and it was fantastic to see so much of Cluj from above.

What’s Nearby?

The Cathedral of St Michael is in the city’s main square, Piata Unirii. Unirii Square is a lovely place with lots of interesting things to see, including some impressive Baroque buildings surrounding the area. Unirii Square is also a great place to hang out and enjoy a drink in the warmer months. Many of the cafes and bars in the area have outside seating.

One focal point of the square is the Matthias Corvinus Monument. The monument is a statue of Matthias Corvinus on horseback with warriors at his side. Matthias Corvinus was an important 15th-century Hungarian king who is quite revered in Transylvania.

They built the monument in 1902, and it sits just outside of St Michael’s Church. The square hosts many city events, including the annual Christmas markets.