The Ursulines Monastery (Mănăstirea Ursulinelor) is a former monastery on Republic Avenue (Calea Republicii) in Oradea, Bihor County. The monastery church, which is dedicated to Saint Ann (Sfânta Ana), is still in use but the monastic buildings now house the Ady Endre High School and commercial spaces.
In 1765, Ursuline nuns were brought to Oradea from Košice (Slovakia) and between 1772 and 1774 a church and several monastery buildings were erected in a Baroque style. In 1858, the annexes were extended and the facades were transformed into the neo-Gothic style they have today based on the plans of architect István Szenczy. The wooden belfry was also replaced by a stone one.
The monastery initially housed a primary school, but in 1856 it became a pedagogical school and at the end of the 19th century a girls’ school. In 1948, just after the communists came to power in Romania, the monastery was forced to close down. It was re-opened again after the 1989 Revolution, but the nuns have left again in recent years. The school building now houses the Ady Endre High School, which teaches in the Hungarian language.
