Church of the Sacred Heart of Christ
The Church of the Sacred Heart of Christ is one of the three Catholic churches in the city dating from the pre-communist era. The Jesuit Church of the Sacred Heart was built from 1938 to 1939 on a basilica plan. It was designed by the architect Giovanni Santi in a neo-Romanesque style. In 1967, during the communist period, the church was closed and transformed into a cinema; the façade was then hidden in order to conceal the religious function of the building, and the frescoes were removed. However, the Catholic faithful used to come here to pray in secret. The church regained its religious function after the fall of the communist regime but lost its status as the city's main Catholic church with the construction of St. Paul's Cathedral in 2002.