Satu Mare - The Calvinist Church of Mintiu

The town of Mintiu had its own parish church during the Middle Ages, and, starting with the 14th century, a Dominican monastery and nunnery functioned here. The Protestants took over the parish church rather early during the 16th century. The town was attacked several times during the Ottoman wars, and the church was also damaged. When the garrison of the fortress set the town on fire in 1703, the church was destroyed. The community built a church of earth, with a wooden belfry. The building of a new stone-church became possible only after the Decree of Tolerance. The construction started in 1793, and the work was coordinated by the mason Zsigmond Preinlich. After several stages of construction, the church was consecrated in 1802. The edifice was renovated several times during the 19th and 20th centuries, most recently in 1988 and 1992, when the church benches were changed. The form of the main façade and the huge proportions of the church are comparable with the church “with Chains”, but its decoration is simpler. The difference to the other church is on the outer façade, which here is divided by niches made of pillars. The nave has a curved end, with semicircular windows and flat ceiling. The evenly aspect of the walls is special because of the pillars situated between the windows. The baroque pulpit, painted in white and gold, and the eastern choir with corrugated banister were made according to the plans of József Belényesi, at the end of the 18th century. (TSz).

References:
Ábrám Lídia – Ábrám Sámuel, A Szatmár-Németi református egyház, Szatmárnémeti, 2005.