THE PALACE OF MOSKOVITS ADOLF AND SONS
Secession architecture in Piața Unirii (Union Square)
Secession architecture.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Nikolits House was located on the right corner of the street towards the Union
Square, a house on only one floor, followed by a twostorey house belonging to the Diamandi family, on Vasile Alecsandri Street no. 1. In 1905 these two buildings were bought by Moskovits Mór Jr. and Dr. Moskovits József, wealthy men, owning a spirit, yeast, beer and milling business, shareholders and owners of Moskovits Adolf and sons’ enterprise.
The building of the three-storey palace began in 1910, after the architectural plan of brothers Vagó József and László. The Moskovits Palace is one of the last works of the Vágó brothers, similar to many previously designed buildings. The execution of the works was carried out by Lajos Incze and sons’ company.
As it was fashionable at that time, the palace had several destinations: shops on the ground floor, a hats shop on
the first floor, the headquarters of Oradea Bank and the Joint Stock Company. The other two floors were divided into residential apartments, some more luxurious with four
rooms, overlooking the Union Square, others, modest apartments overlooking the inner courtyard.
The distribution of accents on the façade’s design is different because the building was built in two stages.
The façade is a true brand of the Vágo brothers, built in the same style as the Guttenberg House in Budapest, the reference building for their vision marked by the spirit of the Viennese secession.
The aspect of the façade is dominated by the ledges of the balconies, built in various sizes, decorated with simple geometric motifs. Under the main cornice, the façade is decorated with a series of slightly outlined reliefs representing work scenes (crop gathering) and idyllic scenes (shepherd with a flute surrounded by family). The decoration made from small ceramic tiles is conjugated to a figurative decoration: a continuous frieze placed under the cornice of both façades, made by using the graffito technique.
A beautiful railing gate opens the entrance to the inner courtyard. But before entering the courtyard, we can admire the same modern and minimalist conception of the staircase ironware. The hexagonal oblong panels of travertine tiles are framed by elegantly designed ironware.
The Palace of Moskovits Adolf and Sons is a monument that can be admired from Union Square.
Oradea City Hall
Church of Saint Ladislaus
Sion Neolog Synagogue
Black Eagle Palace
Moon Church