The (Orthodox) Cathedral of Saint Sava in Belgrade, Serbia is the largest Orthodox Church currently in use. The church is dedicated to Saint Sava, founder of the Serbian Church and an important figure in medieval Serbia. It is built on the Vračar plateau, on the location where his remains are thought to have been burned in 1595 by Turkish Sinan Pasha. From its location, it dominates Belgrade's cityscape, and is perhaps the most monumental building in the city. The building of the church structure is being financed exclusively by donations. The parish home is nearby, as will be the planned patriarchal building.
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Architecture
Saint Sava's plateau: the church is at the east of the park, and the parish home at the north. (The building at the south is the National Library of Serbia.)It finishes Belgrade's line Kalemegdan - Trg republike - Terazije - Beograđanka - Slavija - Temple of Saint Sava. The peak is 134 metres (439.6 ft) high (64 metres [210 ft] above the Sava river); therefore the church holds a dominant position in Belgrade's cityscape and is visible from all approaches to the city.
Parish home
The church is 91 m (298.5 ft) long from east to west, and 81 m (265.7 ft) from north to south. It is 70 m (229.65 ft) tall, with the main gold-plated cross extending for 12 more metres (39.4 ft). Its domes have 18 more gold-plated crosses of various sizes, while the bell towers have 49 bells.
It has a surface area of 3,500 square metres on the ground floor, with three galleries of 1,500 m2 on the first level, and a 120 m2 gallery on the second level. The temple can receive 10,000 faithful at any one time. The choir gallery seas 800 singers. The basement contains a crypt, the treasury of Saint Sava, and the grave church of Saint Hieromartyr Lazar, with a total surface of 1.800 m2.
The facade is done in white marble and granite and, when finished, the inner decorations will be done as mosaics. The central dome will contain a mosaic of Christ Pantocrator. To give a sense of the monumental scale, the eyes will each be about 3 metres wide.
Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Saint_SavaThis article is protected.
Category:
belgrade temple