Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Sarajevo, Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Stari Grad, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos is a stone church, not brick, built as a three-aisle basilica with an inscribed cross plan and five domes; the central dome is much larger than the four side domes. Its walls are 15.5 m high, the central dome reaches 34 m, and the church measures 37 m by 22.5 m. A small gilded baroque-style belfry stands before the entrance, and the interior walls carry painted ornaments that simulate marble in the lower zones.
Construction started in 1863 under Ottoman rule, funded by local Serbian merchants with support from Sultan Abdülaziz and Prince Mihailo Obrenović. This collaboration during foreign occupation reflects how important the building was for the Serbian community in the city.
The church is known locally as the 'New Orthodox Church', distinguishing it from a 16th-century church a few hundred metres east. Its iconostasis icons were brought from Russia in 1873 by Archimandrite Sava Kostanović and remain in place. The gilded throne beside the right column is reserved for the metropolitan.
The cathedral stands in the city centre on the right bank of the Miljacka, next to the Faculty of Economics. The church itself was not damaged in the 1992–1995 war; its exterior was later renovated with a donation from Greece. The Serbian Orthodox Church is still seeking the return of the Faculty of Economics building, bought together with the square for the church and seminary between 1859 and 1862.
The church is built of stone, not brick, and its lead roof was stripped by the Austrians during the First World War, who also removed the bells and replaced the covering with sheet metal. New bells weighing 2,800 kg, 1,600 kg and 750 kg were hung in 1921, when electricity was also installed.
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