The Transfiguration Cathedral of Cluj-Napoca (Catedrala Schimbarea la Față din Cluj-Napoca), also known as the Minorites’ Church, is a Romanian Greek-Catholic Church in the center of Cluj-Napoca.
The Church was designed by Francisc Kirtner in a Baroque style and built between 1775 and 1779 by the so-called, Minorites, the oldest branch of the Franciscans. Due to a construction error, the tower of the church collapsed on September 22, 1779. Three years later, the church and its tower were restored under the supervision of the architect Johann Eberhard Blaumann, who also designed the Bánffy Palace.
In 1798 the roof and the tower of the church were damaged by a fire, after which a temporary wooden roof was installed. A new permanent roof was built in the 19th century. In 1908 the frescoes on the ceiling were painted by Ferenc Lohr.
In 1924 Pope Pius XI decided to donate the church to the Romanian Greek Catholic Church to serve as the Greek-Catholic Diocese of Cluj-Gherla. Several adaptions were made to the interior, including the installation of an iconostasis.
When the communists got in power, the Greek-Catholic Church was dissolved and the church was given to the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1948. After the fall of the communist regime in 1989 the Greek-Catholic Church requested the restitution of the building, but this was initially denied. After a long legal process, the church was finally handed back to the Greek-Catholic Church on March 20, 1998.
