Sarajevo Old Orthodox Church, Orthodox church in Stari Grad, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Sarajevo Old Orthodox Church, dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, is a Serbian Orthodox church in the old part of Baščaršija. Its floor plan is wider than it is long, with a central area surrounded by arches and a gallery. A bell tower was added in 1883 and rebuilt in 1960. The walled courtyard holds a museum with icons from the 13th to 19th centuries.
The church is first documented in 1539, though it likely stands on older foundations and archaeological evidence points to the 15th century. It burned three times in the 17th century; after the 1656 fire it received a chandelier, two stone candlesticks and a carved wooden iconostasis. It was damaged by fire again in 1724 and 1788, and the roof burned in 1788 was repaired in 1793. The bell tower was added in 1883, after Ottoman rule ended.
Popular tradition credits the church's founding to Andrijaš, brother of the legendary Prince Marko, though the patron is unknown. In the inner courtyard, the museum holds 140 icons, four iconostasis fragments, 114 metal objects, 13 books, six old documents and 37 liturgical textiles. Church tradition holds that a relic of Saint Thekla, her foot, is kept here.
The church stands at the start of Titova Street, just off Baščaršija, in Sarajevo's Stari Grad. The national monument ensemble takes in the church, its courtyard, the museum building, the perimeter wall, the entrance gate and the parish house, so allow time for the courtyard and museum as well as the interior.
In the inner courtyard stands a museum holding 140 icons from the 13th to 19th centuries, four iconostasis fragments, 114 metal objects, 13 books, six old documents and 37 liturgical textiles. Church tradition holds that a relic of Saint Thecla, her foot, is kept in the church.
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