Barbareum

Barbareum. Greek Catholic seminary founded by Empress Maria Theresa in 1774 at Saint Barbara's Church in Vienna to train priests in the Austrian Empire. The regulations of the seminary were modeled on those of the Saint Athanasius’ Greek College in Rome. The first rector of the seminary was Rev J. Bastajić. The Barbareum was closed in 1784 by Emperor Joseph II and was replaced by a crown boarding school (1808–93) opened by Francis I. A number of Galician and Transcarpathian religious leaders (including six bishops) were educated at the school. Its history is documented in W. Plöchl's St. Barbara zu Wien: die Geschichte der griechisch-katholischen Kirche und Zentralpfarre St. Barbara (2 vols, 1975).

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]