The Dormition of the Mother God Cathedral (Catedrala Adormirea Maicii Domnului), better known as the Moon Church (Biserica cu Lună), is the former Episcopal Cathedral of the Orthodox Bishopric of Oradea. The church is located on Union Square in Oradea, Bihor County.
The church was built between 1784 and 1790 in an Austrian Baroque style after the design of the architect Jakob Eder. The foundation stone was laid by the bishop of Arad, Petru Petrovici, on 9 November 1784.
It received the name Moon Church from the unique mechanism in the clock tower that rotates around its axis in approximately 28 days, resembling a lunar cycle. The mechanism, which was designed by Georg Rueppert in 1793, sets in motion a sphere with a diameter of 1 meter. The sphere is painted half in black and half in gold and by its rotation, indicates the different phases of the moon.
After the completion of the internal decorations, the church was consecrated in 1832. Luckily, the building was spared during the great fire of 1836 and it has since been preserved in its original form.
Inside the church, you can also visit a small museum with religious art and you can climb up the tower to have a look at the clock mechanism. In front of the church, you can see the bronze statue of Episcope Roman Ciorogariu (1852-1936).
Since the construction of the new Resurrection Cathedral of Oradea, which was inaugurated in 2020, the Moon Church no longer functions as the Orthodox Episcopal Cathedral.
