Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – Ditrău (Gyergyóditró)
The twin-towered neo-Gothic church of Ditrău (Gyergyóditró) is the largest church in the Gheorgheni (Gyergyó) Basin, and its spires dominate the village from afar. The Catholic community built it at the beginning of the 20th century and dedicated it to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
By the end of the 19th century the village's old church of St Catherine of Alexandria had become too small for a Catholic community of nearly six thousand souls, so in 1891 the parish council decided to build a new church. To cover the costs, the local commons association (közbirtokosság) placed some 950 hold (roughly 550 hectares) of forest at the parish's disposal. The plans were drawn up by university professor István Kiss, and the construction was carried out by István Kladek, a contractor from Subotica (Szabadka).
Work began in 1908 under the direction of the parish priest János Takó. The church was consecrated on 13 July 1913 by Count Gusztáv Károly Majláth, Bishop of Transylvania; the monumental undertaking cost some 800,000 gold crowns. A statue of the priest who built it, the work of Tibor Kolozsi, now stands on the square in front of the church.
The nave of this neo-Gothic and eclectic church is 56 metres long and 23 metres wide, and its two towers rise to more than 70 metres. The vault rests on massive pillars, and the stained-glass windows depict the twelve apostles. The Carrara marble statues of the high altar – the Sacred Heart of Jesus, St Stephen and St Ladislaus – are the work of the locally born sculptor Lőrinc Siklódy, while the pulpit, the wooden structure of the high altar and the pews were made by the Budapest cabinetmaker Endre Thék.
In preparation for the centenary, the church was restored inside and out between 2007 and 2013, when the 26-stop organ built in 1913 was also renovated. To replace the great bell taken away during the First World War, a new 2,200-kilogram Sacred Heart bell, cast in Imre Lázár's workshop in Odorheiu Secuiesc (Székelyudvarhely), was hung in the south tower in 2016 – it is the largest bell in Székely Land.
Visiting: the church stands in the centre of Ditrău, on the DN12 main road linking Gheorgheni (Gyergyószentmiklós) and Toplița (Maroshévíz); a few hundred metres away is the village's old church of St Catherine, surrounded by a fortress-like wall. For Mass times, enquire at the Ditrău parish.
Sources: Wikipedia · Archdiocese of Alba Iulia – Ditró parish · Wikipedia (English) – Ditrău
Photo: Țetcu Mircea Rareș / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo: Țetcu Mircea Rareș / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Town:
Ditrău (Gyergyóditró)
