Între normă şi formă. Evoluţia arhitecturii baroce în mediul ortodox din Banat (secolul al XVIII-lea)
Abstract
Abstract: Once with transformation of Banat into im Abstract perial province, enter also religious
Catholic orders interested in attracting to an as broad as possible number of believers
from an area that was under the Ottoman rule for 164 years. Jesuits, Bosnian
Franciscans, Piarists and Brothers of Misericordia will establish in the province newly
acquired by the Habsburg Empire, with the status of imperial province, new quarters of
orders, monasteries and schools, these orders being the ones that introduced in the
newly built architecture, central-European Baroque elements. Amongst these orders,
the Jesuits will be the first who will transform old churches (as it is St. George church
from Timişoara) into Jesuit churches and by religious fervour, eloquent sermons and
religious tolerance will attract a great number of supporters, succeeding in short time to
convert both Protestants and Orthodox Jews. Manner by which their sermons
succeeded to mark even a new way of life, transforming the magnificent celebration of
feasts from the Catholic calendar, into inside of some monumental churches whose
indoors were scenographically arranged to impress man of the 18th century, who was
under the permanent threat of fatality, armed conflicts, disasters, will constitute the
visual support of the winners’ ideology.
Churches that the Catholic orders from Banat will built in Banat throughout
the 18th century will be monumental constructions derived from the prototype made by
A. Pilgram, basilical plan with two towers on the facade, extensive choir and grandious
indoors with main altar and lateral altars as necessary elements of Baroque scenography.
Tolerance towards the Orthodox population from the province is noticed in taking over
the architectural models from the Catholic environment, only that tolerance was
restricted to models, merely with several exceptions (the church of the Metropolitan
See from Sremski Karlovač and the Serbian church from Timişoara) the Orthodoxs were
allowed to build church cathedrals with two towers on the facade, in the majority of
the cases there being accepted only constructions with a massive tower on the surface.
Keywords
Baroque, architecture, evolution, influences, Banat.