Former Palace of the Prince of Transylvania
Palatul Principilor
Former Palace of the Prince of Transylvania
Palatul Principilor
Original function:
Bishop's / Archbishop's Palace
palace
Address:
Strada Mihai Viteazu
Historical Hungarian county:
Alsó-Fehér
GPS coordinates:
46.0672114465, 23.5708550064
History
Next to the cathedral stands the former 15th century palace of the princes of Transylvania and the bishop's palace. The Diocese of Transylvania, founded by King St Stephen I of Hungary in 1009, was renamed the Bishopric of Gyulafehervár in 1932 under pressure from the occupying Romanian authorities, and became an archdiocese in 1991.
Not much is known about the construction of the building, which incorporates Renaissance and Baroque elements. The passage that connected it to the cathedral opens from the wing to the left of the gate. This may be the oldest part of the palace, which probably includes elements from the period of the House of Árpád. This palace later became the centre of the Principality of Transylvania, the seat of the princes. Its western, one-storey wing used to have two storeys. The bishop's palace was converted into a prince's palace in the 16th century by John Sigismund, and then rebuilt under Prince Bethlen Gábor to the designs of the Italian architect Giacomo Resti.
In 1658, the Turks ravaged and burned the building and the town. From 1690 it was converted into a barracks by the Austrian troops. Part of the building was returned to the bishopric in 1716, but the other part (the so-called prince's palace) continued to be used by the military and was only given to the municipality in 2009.
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