Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral, Bălți

Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral
Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral
Catedrala Sfinții Împărați Constantin și Elena
Location	Bălți
Country	Moldova
Denomination	Eastern Orthodoxy
History
Status	Cathedral
Consecrated	June 2, 1935
Architecture
Architect(s)	Adrian Gabrilescu and Andrei Ivanov
Style	Romanian Revival architecture
Completed	1934

The Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral (Romanian: Catedrala Sfinții Împărați Constantin și Elena) is a cathedral in Bălți, Moldova.

History

The cornerstone was laid on September 24, 1924, by Bishop Visarion Puiu of Hotin with the future King Carol II of Romania, Patriarch Miron of Romania, Patriarch Damian of Jerusalem, Metropolitan Pimen Georgescu of Moldavia, and Metropolitan Gurie Grosu of Bessarabia. Between 1923 and 1935, Visarion Puiu was bishop of Hotin, his seat being in Bălți.

The cathedral was built in Neo-Romanian style. The consecration of the Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral took place in Bălți on June 2, 1935. The Ecumenical Patriarch Photius II of Constantinople was represented by the Metropolitan of Australia Timotheos Evangelinidis. The consecration ceremony was also attended by the King Carol II and son, future King Michael I of Romania.^[1]^[2]

The building survived the harsh treatment during the Soviet era almost without visible effects, when it was for most of the time a depot, later to be turned into the municipal museum.