Project to cost around EUR 100 M.
The National Redemption Cathedral will be designed by a Bacau County company that won the tender by presenting the best construction plan at a reasonable price, Patriarchal Bishop Ciprian Campineanul stated during a press conference on Friday, being quoted by Agerpres.
He added that the project presented by SC Vanel Exim SRL costs approximately EUR 100 M. The project’s initial price was estimated at approximately EUR 200 M for the unfinished Cathedral. The Romanian Patriarchy has already collected an undisclosed amount of money from donations and sponsors, having already paid for certain works.
At first the winner of the tender was to be announced on June 30 however the Romanian Orthodox Church decided to make the announcement on July 2, the day on which Saint Stephen the Great, known as a great builder of churches, is celebrated.
Construction works will begin this autumn, when a fund raising campaign will be launched to collect funds for the works. The fund collection campaign will only be run in churches, the church representatives added. Campineanul reiterated during the press conference that the Romanian Patriarchy did not ask for state funds in order to build the cathedral. The Patriarchy is currently negotiating with five or six banks in order to contract a EUR 100 M loan. He pointed out that the Romanian Patriarchy will use only the sum it needs in order to start the construction works. 4,000 jobs will be created once the construction works start. The Patriarchal Bishop pointed out that all seven projects that took part in the competition will be used in order to build other cathedrals in the country and abroad. Such buildings are already in demand in Spain and the US.
The National Cathedral will have an overall length of 120 metres and a width of 70 metres. Its highest dome will stand 120 metres high. The Cathedral’s surface will be ten times smaller than the surface of the Palace of Parliament nearby.
Patriarch Daniel stated on Friday at the end of Holy Mass that the unfinished construction will be ready in three years’ time with another two-three years needed in order to finish the Cathedral.
