Franciscan Church And Convent Lazarea

The most significant convent of the Giurgiu Basin (Gheorgheni area) is the Franciscan monastery, built between 1669 and 1752 on the property donated by the royal judge, Lázár István, for the monastic order in the seventeenth century. The Franciscan Baroque church was built as part of a complex of buildings in several stages, starting from 1669 and completed in 1690. 

In Transylvania, after one of the most important social changes, the Religious Reform, Catholic religous friar orders were expelled from urban centers and almost entirely from Transylvania. During the reign of the last Transylvanian ruler, Mihály Apafi, friar orders were allowed to operate officially only in two Transylvanian settlements: Şumuleu Ciuc and Călugăreni. The monastery in Lăzarea was the exception to the rule, where protected by the Lázár family, Franciscan monks have found a refuge and a location where to found their monastery. The monastery that functioned as a convent until the year 1729 became the prey of several fires throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but each time it was rebuilt. 

In this monastery an important Franciscan friar, Kájoni János or Kájoni Joannes, lived and created. On the outer facade of the wall surrounding the convent one can observe his bust. Besides being a friar priest, scholar, he founded the first print of Şumuleu Ciuc in the 17th century. He was also initiated in the science of nature, nonetheless he was also a composer and musician, he built and repaired organs. Among the organs built by him recall the organs built for the churches  in Călugăreni, Şumuleu Ciuc, Lăzarea and Odorheiu Secuiesc. He also collected sacred hymns sung in Transylvania. His most important works are "Cantinale Catolicum" hymns in Hungarian, German and Latin, a part in his book "Codex Caioni" and the "Kájoni Herbarium", etc.