Romania’s National Cathedral

Protecting the heart of Romanian spirituality

Romania’s National Cathedral, the emblem of the spiritual unity of the nation, is located in an area of about 110,000 square metres, right next to the imposing building of the Parliament Palace. Currently, this edifice is one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world. The story of the cathedral has been outlined since the end of the 19th century. Clerics, intellectuals, and politicians wanted to build an Orthodox cathedral in Bucharest, as a symbol of national unity, but this wish was implemented only at the end of 2010 when the construction started. The location of the Cathedral right next to the People’s House is considered by the Romanian Patriarchy to be a moral reparation because of the five former churches in that area, three were completely demolished, and two were moved by the communist regime to build the People’s House, the Palace of the Parliament from our days. The project is a complex architectural ensemble, which contains, besides the cathedral, a series of other buildings for the accommodation of pilgrims, administrative, pastoral, cultural, social, or medical assistance activities of the church.

In addition, the complex contains an underground space with a capacity of 6900 people under the esplanade of the cathedral which will accommodate St. Andrew’s cave, a museum and other spaces dedicated to cultural and catechetical activities. Currently, the complex is in an advanced stage of construction. The cathedral with an internal capacity of 5,000 people is completely built and they are now concentrating on paintings, ornaments as well as to exterior finishes of the building.

110,000

Square meters

5,000

Capacity for people

110

Highest spire of the cathedral in meter

About our solution

It is a certainty that places of worship have a greater risk of fire and throughout history, sacred places have been affected by fires often causing irreparable damages. The National Cathedral, the heart of Romanian spirituality, will be protected by Schrack Seconet’s innovative fire alarm and voice alarm systems. The infrastructure, the superstructure and the cathedral will be protected by multiple sensor detectors with voice output, connected to the latest generation of Integral EvoxX M control panels, specially created for the surveillance of large objectives. Manual call points for alarm triggering, parallel indicators, sirens and flashlights will offer maximum safety to all pilgrims and help preserve this spiritual heritage of the Romanian people.

A special challange

It was a challenge designing the reliable fire detection of the Pantocrator icon, located in the highest spire of the cathedral, at a height of about 110 meters . For this application, we needed a special, almost invisible detection solution that works at high altitudes, is extremely reliable, and requires easy maintenance.

"Together with our installation partners, we chose to use the ASD 535, an aspirating smoke detector equipped with two independent sampling pipes and evaluation units. ASD is among the most precise and reliable early fire warning systems and impresses with its cutting-edge technology, robustness, and a very high level of fire sensitivity - A technical solution that’s always on top."

Richard Pertschy - Area Sales Manager at Schrack Seconet Vienna

Alexandru Mateiciuc | Head of Representative Office Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria

"Emergency situations are unpredictable and can change quickly. Wherever large numbers of people gather, voice evacuation and public information systems are also needed. Sharing the same passion for innovation and future technologies, Schrack Seconet and the Swiss manufacturer g+m Elektronik are combining their systems to create a perfectly coordinated integrated solution that saves valuable minutes in emergency situations, avoids panic and shortens evacuation times."

Innovative and future-oriented systems

The voice evacuation system, certified according to EN 54-16, will be installed throughout the complex, and will be equipped with two APS controllers for monitoring, controlling and processing audio signals. Microphone consoles, including a microphone for the fire brigade, ceiling speakers and metal speakers will ensure the good intelligibility of announcements and a clear sound regardless of the situational context.

Our innovative, future-oriented systems will ensure for posterity an important mark of Orthodox spirituality – something that makes us proud and speaks for itself about the performance of our systems.

"Emergency situations are unpredictable and can change quickly. Wherever large numbers of people gather, voice evacuation and public information systems are also needed."

Alexandru Mateiciuc - Head of Representative Office Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria

We are specialists
For the protection of people and values.

With us you can expect worldwide experience, many years of know-how as a leader for innovation, one of the best fire alarm control panels in the world and many other excellent solutions. See for yourself.

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