The Cathedral “Sf. Haralambos “in the city of Turnu Magurele is considered to be the most representative monument in Teleorman County for its ecclesiastical art dating from the early twentieth century.
The cathedral is an impressive construction, having 37 meters long, 23 meters wide and 25 meters high, being also a true architectural monument, the historian Nicolae Iorga considering it the third in the country, by its value and beauty, after the Episcopal Cathedral of the Court of Arges and the church “Three Hierarchs” from Iasi city.
The building located in the town on the Danube shore was built between 1901 and 1905 according to a plan drawn up initially by the French architect Emile Lecomte du Nouy Andre, author of the restoration of the Episcopal cathedral in Curtea de Arges.
The resemblance is obvious, the exterior being richly decorated with stone medallions with a flat relief with geometrical and floral motifs. The windows have stone frames and lateral semicolonets. The opened porch, supported on four columns, with an overall canopy, and with three towers, give the monument a special appearance.
The construction was done by the engineer Dimitrie Maimarolu, who raised the Metropolitan Palace building in Bucharest and the building of the Military Circle. The architectural style of the building is combined, the front spiers being in Baroque style, and the rest being in Byzantine style.
The interior decoration is as rich and sumptuous as the architecture. The oil painting was executed by Eugen Voinescu Romeo Girolamo, having as model the church “San Marco” in Venice, in Neobyzantine style.
In the narthex are two beautiful portraits of King Carol I and Queen Elizabeth considered to be the founders for the donation and courtesy shown to construction of the church.
Among the valuable items can be mentioned a seven-branched candelabrum, made of silver alloy, silver-loaded icons from the old church, as well as newer ones, from private donations. Is remarkable the harmony between all parts: the mosaic painting, woodcarving, zinc and bronze or stone eaven the exterior ornamentation from the eaves and from the towers.
