The Greek-Catholic Church of the Rățeștilor

 The Greek-Catholic Church of the Rățeștilor in Turda, with the dedication "Adormirea Maicii Domnului" (The Dormition of the Mother of God), is a church built by the Greek-Catholic protopope Basiliu Rațiu in 1839, financed by the Rațiu family, one of the prominent Romanian families in Turda. It was originally named after the Rațiu family, and currently serves as the Turda Veche Orthodox parish church. The church was built in Turda Veche in response to the lack of Greek-Catholic churches in the area. Before its construction, Greek-Catholics, including members of the Rațiu family, had to attend church in Turda Nouă. Basiliu Rațiu and his family funded the construction, along with the other members of the Rațiu family. The cemetery in the church's courtyard holds the remains of some members of the Rațiu family. The church was used by both Greek-Catholics and Orthodox until 1948, when the graves on both sides of the church were dismantled. After 1948, a new rectory was built on the former cemetery grounds. The funds for the church were mainly provided by Basiliu Rațiu and his brothers from their own resources, and from compensation awarded through a court decision against the illegal confiscation of the Rațiu family's properties in 1653 by Prince Gheorghe Rákóczi II. The first donation, after the re-attainment of the Rațiu family's nobility title and the confirmation of their right to reside in Turda in 1829, allowed for the purchase of land for the church, priest and cantor's houses, and the agricultural land necessary for their subsistence, as well as for cemeteries for both Greek-Catholic and Orthodox believers, as Romanians were not allowed to be buried in Turda before this. 

 The second donation, the monetary compensation, was the basis for the foundation in 1866 of the Eforia Cultural Fund. It allowed the council of the Rățești Church to undertake important work at the church, establish a fund that allowed young Romanians to pursue higher education, and fund the construction of the first Romanian denominational school in Turda Veche. The first president of Eforia was Dr. Ioan Rațiu, who was selected by the founder of Eforia, Prepozitul capitular, Canon Vasile Rațiu. Eforia operated until 1948 according to the provisions of the "Agreement" and Statutes. Over time, due to donations from Dionisie Sterca Şulutiu, Ana Câmpean, Agapia Micușan, and lawyer George Popescu, the parish of this church became the strongest in the city from a financial point of view, becoming the owner of the city's marketplace, the buildings surrounding the marketplace, the former "Elisabeta" hotel (the old Eforia palace), the new Eforia palace (G. Lazăr street, used as a bus station during communism), and the school built opposite the church (currently, one wing houses a kindergarten). In 1929, the Greek Catholic church already had electric lighting and gas heating. The first priest of the church was Gregoriu Rațiu (1840-1859). Then only priests from the Rațiu family or those agreed upon by the family served: Petru Rațiu (1860-1873), administrator of the protopresbyterate, protopop of Cojocna; Iosif Hossu (1873-1874), professor and canon in Blaj; Alexandru Pop Romanțan (1875-1901) and Nicolae-Portos Rațiu (1903-1932), honorary vice-protopop. The last Greek Catholic priest of this church was Dr. Coriolan Sabău (1932-1948), protopop of Bucharest and Turda, arrested by the communist authorities in 1948 for refusing to switch to the Romanian Orthodox Church. 

 

In the cemetery of the church yard, some members of the Rațiu family are buried, except for Dr. Ioan Rațiu and Ion Rațiu, as the church has been used since 1948 by an Orthodox parish. Representatives of the Orthodox Church opposed Ion Rațiu's burial in the church built by his family, and therefore, the ceremony took place on the street during a freezing cold winter.

Since 1948, when the church was taken over by the Orthodox cult, three valuable paintings of prominent members of the Rațiu family were stored improperly in a church warehouse (the paintings depict the Greek Catholic prebendary Basiliu Rațiu, the church's founder, the memorandist Dr. Ioan Rațiu, the first president of the Eforia, and the Greek Catholic protopop Nicolae Rațiu). Recently, the paintings were moved to the church library.

On July 28, 2011, with the approval of Metropolitan Andrei Andreicuț, the Rățești Church font was consecrated, reconstructed after the original font disappeared in unknown circumstances after 1948. The monuments of the church's founders and main contributors, located in the church yard, were also consecrated. The resetting of the font was a historic recovery gesture.

The church has been renovated several times. The current painting was made between 1965-1966 by Cornel Cenan from Cluj. On either side of the nave there are two mural paintings on the ceiling that depict the 12 zodiacs. On the left painting, six zodiacs are depicted (Sagittarius, Pisces, Libra, Scorpio, Cancer, Leo), and on the right painting, the other six zodiacs (Taurus, Aquarius, Capricorn, Gemini, Aries, Virgo) are depicted.

In 1967, the carved oak wood iconostasis was made. Also in 1967, other works (archbishop's chairs, pulpit, tetrapod) were carried out by sculptors Aurel Sămărtinean and Grigore Frătean from Turda. In 1971, the exterior repair was made.