Last time I visited the catacombs was at Saint Denis, Paris. It was a very interesting experience and even though I lost all my photos, the images are printed in my brain, which is a very good thing.
Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. source
Catacombs are not on every corner, however, you can find some in major European cities, that date back to medieval times. Some are open to the public, while others are closed to keep them safe and guarantee eternal peace to those resting there.
In Marosvásárhely (Targu Mures), there are two places where you can find catacombs. One is close to the theater, where the tower of the Franciscan Church is. There was a Franciscan Church and monastery there, which, unfortunately got demolished 1971, so today there's only the tower. The catacombs are under the tower, but it's not open to the public.
The other place where you can see catacombs is under the Saint John the Baptist Church, that is situated at the upper end of the main square.
It's right in the city center, you can't miss it as its green towers are visible from everywhere.
This is the main entrance of the church.
Saint John the Baptist Church (Romanian: Biserica Sfântul Ioan Botezătorul, Hungarian: Keresztelő Szent János Plébánia) is a baroque, Catholic church in the city center of Târgu Mureș, Romania.
Transylvania fulfilled all the requirements for the development of this new architectural style by the beginning of the 18th century, when it became part of the Habsburg Empire. Ignatius of Loyola initiated a strong campaign to convert people back to Catholicism. Jesuit monks settled in the town in 1702 with the purpose of revitalizing the Catholic community. During the first years, they found lodging in the home of Boer Simon, but in 1704 managed to buy a plot of land near the Nagy Szabo house in order to build a church. In 1764 a bigger church was built because of an increase in the Catholic population.
The church was constructed based on the plans of the Jesuit Valentin Scherzer and was raised by constructor Konrad Hammer from Cluj. source
For a door and window fan, the main door looks pretty impressive. I'm not sure how old the door is, must have been replacing the old one, but it still the old style you see in the movies featuring medieval times.
If you paid attention to the door handle above, you could have seen it's not a usual one, so I took a photo of the lock from inside. This is indeed anything but a usual lock. I have no idea how old it could be, but it's definitely old.
Even though it has been renovated several times over the decades, centuries, the original style is still kept intact. As you can see, those doors still have the original frame, made of stone.
Catholic churches are closed for the public outside mass hours. You can still go in to pray, but only at the entrance. I was there at noon and there was a baptizing taking place, so I took a couple of photos from great distance to show you what the church looks like from inside.
The entrance to the catacombs is at the back of the church. The catacombs are not open, the only time you can visit the place is once a year, during the Night Of The Museums. Yesterday was the day for this event to take place and I used the occasion to visit the catacombs.
When I got there' there were only a few people waiting at the entrance, but when I got out, there was already a crowd gathering.
In this little park there is the bust of the martyr Bishop Áron Márton, inaugurated in 2000.
Next to the church there's the Deus Providebit Study House, owned by St. John the Baptist Parish.
The Catacombs
The place where the catacombs are was very narrow. It was not built for a large public as the purpose of it was to give the final rest place for nobles, professors, church people and others who had the social status to be buried there. Therefore, there was no much space that would have allowed me to find the best angle. The crowd also made my job more difficult, but I'm still grateful for being able to visit this historical place, that is testimony of Transylvania's past.
What I'm going to tell you now was told by the guide, so I'm going to quote it.
When the crypt was open, a number of bones were found laying on the ground. Those bones were collected and buried in one of the catacombs.
This was the entrance to the catacombs, with our guide explaining the history of the place.
Here you can read the details about the crypt and catacombs.
Archeologists made their best to restore the catacombs, but the damage was significant. Some of the catacombs suffered great damage.
A grave from 1839, which looks impeccable after all those years because it has a marble plate.
This was the way to the staircase leading to the eastern side of the nave, but it was closed.
A grave from 1820, which is now 203 years old.
Graves from 1797, 1800, 1840.
All the engraving was done manually, to make things easier, as you can see, they draw a line, like in those notebooks kids are using in elementary school.
This is one of the graves that has only the year of the burial engraved on it, nothing more, so no one knows who was buried here.
The grave of Sára Farkas, wife of a judge, lived for 48 years, buried in 1783.
Helbrink was the name and that's all they know.
This is an outfit priests were wearing once. Our guide said it wasn't comfortable so they don't wear it anymore.
Another one from 1798. The date is engraved with Roman numbers at the bottom.
Another one from 1809.
Sándor Verzár's widow, Helena Márkovits, died in 1841.
This is all part of the city's history and I'm glad I was given an occasion to visit the place.
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Just another wonderful post wich brings you into another world.
I love to travel and my last short trip was to Naumburg in Hesse in Germany
Thank you @detlev, I'm glad you like it.
I’ve been in Paris, but somehow catacombs never called my attention. It’s very nice to see your post, with the explanation and the pictures, because it’s a way of knowing a little bit more about it, and it’s probably more interesting to me of what I thought. Thanks a lot for sharing!!
I always go for the catacombs as those are 200 years old at least, if not older and are testimony of the past.
It's indeed a way to know the past and I know you're going to visit one next time you come across a place like this :)
Walking through catacombs feels like such a big throwback to the old times and convince yourself that these weren't just stories! I remember about my experience walking through catacombs in Sighisoara and it felt so different than anything explored so far
Indeed, it is a walk back in time as makes you think of those times, want it or not.
Now that you mentioned Sighisoara, I remembered I was there years ago and visited the catacombs but the visit ended very badly. The lady who accompanied us told us we have to give something for the tour, we dropped some money to the money box and she started cursing us as she said that money should have been given to her 😳 It was a very awkward moment.
However, those catacombs are also a must if you are in the area.
I've seen catacombs in Paris, in Delft (NL), so the list is growing :)
What the.. yeah, I know the lady as it was still there when we visited the church. She wouldn't let us enter if we didn't give her money but during the tour there were plenty of people entering, taking some pictures and then leaving without paying and she did nothing towards them. Which felt like she wasn't correct with us, the ones who already paid her. But I said that I'll try to forget that and only keep in mind the beautiful things I've seen and discovered. Situations like these are so discouraging and disappointing tho 🥺
Oh no! I thought I was the only lucky one to get this treatment. This is so unfair. These people are paid, they have a salary and if not, they are volunteering, which is not a paid job. To ask for money to put in your own pocket is wrong.
I was much younger when this happened, but with the knowledge I have today, I would make a complaint against these people. They put the church to shame.
Unfortunately yes... But as she did a pretty good job with the guided tour, we thought this was legit until I saw that she wasn't asking money from everyone. Perhaps just from these she noticed are not from that region or have a kinder heart.
Either way, it's not fair and will definitely keep in mind next time when I reach that place. I'm not the kind of person to make complaints because I try to promote Romania as much as possible but it's right that these kind of situations are against what I try to do and discourage the others to stop by.
As beautiful Romania is, as much people dissapoint me 🥺
I'm not the complaint type either, but imagine the damage they can do the the city or country's image with this kind of behavior. So they need to be stopped. Our country already has a bad reputation as tourists are ripped off on a regular bases.
People will always be people and greed is a real thing :(
Very nice .it would be interesting to have bones there.I wonder what it would be like.
There are bones, but not at plain site as that would not be healthy, not safe. As I said in my post, those bones that were found when they opened the place, were buried somewhere.
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Visiting at the church is really peaceful, you're right the lock is of different kind, i never see such lock here, it's unique 💫❣️
Every church is peaceful in my opinion, it gives you the time and the possibility to relax and reflect on things. The lock is old, you can see some in my country, especially in these old, medieval churches.
Yes, i agree with you in this sense that every church is Peaceful
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Since you said an area used for a burial place is a catacomb, can we say that a mortuary is the same as catabomb?
I don't think so as these catacombs were used a century or two centuries ago and not anymore. Plus only notable personalities were buried in such places. So it's not the same in my opinion.
Cool - I've always wanted to visit the catacombs !
!LUV
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