Băbeşti - The Calvinist Church

The present building was preceded by a wooden church, situated a few meters south, in the middle of the wide main street, built in the 18th century. The wooden church, the school and the parish were entirely destroyed in the fire of 1850. The construction work of the new church was started in 1858. The new building was in use from 1864, but it was finished only in the 1870s, due to a new fire. The tower was built in 1888. The nave has a curved ground-plan, the windows and doors arched in the upper side, the pilasters between the windows, the prominent cornices and all the components of the edifice suggest that the commissioners were inspired by the important Calvinist churches of the region: Satu Mare and Mintiu. An elegant and dominant element of the interior is the ceiling with cassette, painted with vegetal white-grey motifs on a blue background. It was made through the help of Mihály Reszegey, after the fire, in 1875. The old bell was cast by Kovács József in 1852, in Satu Mare, while the new one was cast in 1923. (TSz).