Romanian Vienna A Taste of History and Imperial Flavors

We are visiting what is perhaps the oldest Romanian trace in Vienna — a 15th-century painting that also features the Romanian voivode Vlad Țepeș.

The "Holy Trinity" Cathedral in Vienna, today the seat of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Austria and Hungary, was built between 1782 and 1786 following the Edict of Tolerance issued by Emperor Joseph II in 1781.

Mihai Eminescu and Ioan Slavici, who were students in Vienna, attended Orthodox services here, celebrated in the Romanian language!

This place holds special significance for the history of our Church in Austria.

We will also visit the Fleischmarkt area, where Romanian voivodes and members of the elite once lived during their time in Vienna.

We will pass by the College of St. Barbara in Vienna, the institution where the elite scholars of the Transylvanian Enlightenment—known as the Școala Ardeleană—received their education.

Founding and mission: The Greek‑Catholic College of Santa Barbara was established in Vienna in 1775 by imperial decree of Maria Theresa, serving as a principal center of education for young Romanian students from Transylvania. Students such as Samuil Micu Clain, Gheorghe Șincai, Petru Maior and Ion Budai‑Deleanu studied here between ~1775 and the mid‑1780s. From this College, they became key intellectuals who promoted Enlightenment values, Romanian linguistic and cultural identity, and formulated the Supplex Libellus Valachorum in 1791–1792, demanding political recognition for Romanians in Transylvania.

We are visiting the former main building of the University of Vienna, where Eminescu, Slavici, and their contemporaries once studied. We will also enter the university’s beautiful chapel.

We will visit the monumental St. Stephen's Cathedral, a site of crucial importance not only for Austrians but also for Romanian spirituality!

Inside the cathedral, we will see a sacred treasure deeply connected to Romanian spiritual heritage: an icon of the Mother of God that closely resembles the one from Nicula. Both reflect the iconographic style of the time in Transylvania.

For this reason, the icon of the Theotokos from Nicula, painted by Father Luca of Iclod, and the one in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, painted by Ștefan Pop, are considered to be “sister icons.”

We will have lunch at a well-known Viennese restaurant, where we will enjoy traditional Austrian dishes.

We will also pass by the new campus of the University of Vienna, where Lucian Blaga and other prominent figures of Romanian culture pursued their studies.

I will briefly share the fascinating story of the Viennese Ringstrasse and introduce you to the magnificent buildings that adorn it — from the State Opera, Hofburg Palace, and Parliament, to the City Hall, the Imperial Theatre, and more.

We will admire the coats of arms of Bukovina and Transylvania, painted inside the church during the time when these regions were part of the Habsburg Empire.