St. Stephen Church Tower

St. Stephen Church Tower, popularly known as “Stefan’s Tower”, is a symbol of the city of Baia Mare, although it has nothing to do with the medieval Moldova’s leader of the same name, the confusion being deliberately kept and maintained until today. The city has been attested since 1329 as a free royal city and a century later comes into the possession of John Hunyadi, Prince of Transylvania and then governor of Hungary. He asks the construction of the tower bell for the St. Stefan’s Gothic Church, in 1446 during a visit to the city (St. Stefan is considered to be the one who christianized the hungarians) building which was already erected  in 1376. It was completed by the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus the son of John Hunyadi.

The first clock is mounted in 1628, the current form of the tower, turret roof, dating back to the end of the 19th century. On the western and the southern side we can see two bas-relieves representing the city’s emblem and a medieval knight. On the northern and eastern side architectural vestiges and traces of the old Gothic church portal or wall tracks are still visible. The ruins of the church were dismantled in 1847, the tower being the only thing remained.