Sunday, August 20, 2017

Romanian Festival (8/20/2017)

Sunday, August 20, 2017
I have always liked this business sign on Kinsman Road
We headed over to the West Side again, this time to St Mary Romanian Orthodox Cathedral for their Romanian Festival.
St Mary Romanian Orthodox Cathedral (1960,
designed by Haralamb Georescu, after a
traditional Romanian church in Maramures style)
The St Mary Church was established in 1904, making it the oldest Romanian church in the United States. It was originally located on Detroit Avenue and the church at #6201 is now part of the Cleveland Public Theater. The congregation moved to the Warren Avenue location in 1960.
Lots of Romanian food available in the Social Hall
Roast pork and potatoes, chicken and dumplings, schnitzel, stuffed cabbage, vegetable stew, sausage and sauerkraut with pork, green beans in a tomato sauce, and:
Mămăligă/Polenta baked with sour cream and cheese
Historic frieze (Part 1) in the Social Hall
Historic frieze (Part 2) in the Social Hall
In 1940, St Mary's was the recipient of artifacts from the Romanian Pavilion at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City. When the church moved to Warren Avenue, the historic copper frieze (which depicts the history of Romania) was incorporated into the Social Hall.
We toured the church, beginning with the baptistery
St Mary Cathedral nave; the iconostasis and
the gold mosaic of St Mary are from the 1960s;
later paintings were added when St Mary's
was elevated to a cathedral in 1999
Side table
Central section of the iconostasis/icon wall
that separates the nave from the sanctuary
Aisle wall with stained glass windows from the 1960s;
the "curtains" are to imitate the tent walls of early churches
Stained glass window of the choir balcony
Example of embroidery on a blouse sleeve, in the museum
More ornate embroidery on a man's jacket
Wooden chair and table from the 1939 World's Fair Romanian Pavilion
Easter eggs painted by Sylvia Banescu with designs
from the region of Făgăraș
Performance of Romanian dancers

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