The Legacy of Kós Károly

For about half a century, Kós Károly designed public and private buildings in Sfântu Gheorghe. During this period, a total of 15 Kós buildings were built, so in terms of numbers and significance, the capital of Covasna County is the town that represents the greatest extent of Kós's architectural activity.

The first work is the symbolic building of the Székely National Museum, which was renovated in 2023. The architect was also commissioned by the Reformed Church to draw up plans for three buildings. These include the building on Kőrösi Csoma Sándor Street, which now houses the elementary classes of the Reformed College of Sfântu Gheorghe, originally intended also as a school - known for decades as the Pioneers' House and later as the Students' House -, the former Kós Károly Vocational School originally intended as a Reformed high school for girls, and the mortuary house of the Fortified Reformed Church. The house of Doctor Samu Csulak on Konsza Samu Street is an eye-catcher, but Vilmos Csutak's house, the Kabay House, the Benedek House, and perhaps most famously, the house of the Keresztes brothers, were also designed by him. Of the artist's unrealised ideas, the most important were the new town hall building - which was to be located in the current Mihai Viteazul Square but remained at the design stage - and the complex of five hospital buildings. Of the latter, only the morgue is still visible in its original state, while the premises of the internal medicine unit bear only traces of Károly Kós's designs.

Samu Csinta