HRAM SV. SAVE

The temple of Saint Sava is located in Vracar. It is surrounded by the streets: Katanićeva, Bore Stankovića, Braničevska and Svetosavski plateau.

The initiative to build the Church of Saint Sava in the Vračar area was launched in 1895, on the occasion of marking 300 years since the burning of the relics of Saint Sava, the first Serbian archbishop. Construction began in 1935, but was interrupted during the Second World War due to various historical circumstances.

The design of the church was entrusted to architects Bogdan Nestorović and Aleksandar Deroko, who conceived it in the post-Byzantine style.

In the post-war period, within socialist Yugoslavia, there was no political consensus to continue construction. It was only in 1984 that work resumed, based on the project of architect Branko Pešić, marking the beginning of a new phase of construction that would last for decades.

Today, the Church of Saint Sava is one of the largest Orthodox churches in the Balkans. In front of the church stands a bronze monument to Saint Sava, unveiled in 2003, created by the Russian sculptor Vyacheslav Klykov. The monument was a gift from the artist and the International Fund for Slavic Culture and Literacy in Moscow, an organization dedicated to promoting Slavic cultural and Orthodox traditions. The involvement of artists and institutions associated with the promotion of Slavic and Orthodox ideology suggests that the monument carries not only cultural, but also political and symbolic significance.

The final phase of the church’s interior decoration, particularly the creation of the monumental mosaic, was carried out through cooperation between Serbian and Russian institutions and artists. This project was financed within a cultural programme of Gazprom Neft, which, through investments in culture and heritage preservation, contributes to shaping public space and symbolic meanings.

Although official narratives present this undertaking as an expression of “spiritual closeness” and “brotherly friendship” between Serbia and Russia, its financing and institutional framework point to a broader context of contemporary relations between the two countries. An additional dimension was given to the project by the visit of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, in 2019, when he, together with the Serbian political and church leadership, attended the final stages of the mosaic works in the Church of Saint Sava. This act goes beyond a purely ceremonial gesture and points to a clear political dimension of the project, in which cultural and religious symbols are used as part of broader diplomatic communication and the affirmation of interstate relations.

The temple was built in Neo-Byzantine style in the shape of a Greek cross with a large dome rising above it. The building has white marble cladding, and is adorned with 13 smaller domes, 5 sub-domes and 5 small domes on the apse.

The gates to the temple are located on the south, north and west sides. The main entrance with a lunette with a mosaic image of Christ is on the west side.
The exterior of the temple was completed in 2004, and in the following years, the interior decoration was completed . First, the crypt of the temple was finished, and at the same time, the mosaic decoration of the dome and the interior walls of the church was completed.
A special endeavor was the installation of a dome weighing 4,000 tons. The dome that was previously built, together with the large golden cross, was erected and placed on the supporting walls of the church. The erection of the dome took 40 days and was completed in 1989.
The interior is a unique unit with a volume of 170,000 m3 that can accommodate 10,000 people. The upper zone of the church consists of three choir galleries of 1444 m2. Above the central space of the nave rises a dome 65 feet high, with a span of 30.5 m.
Ornamental reliefs and mosaic decoration are intertwined in the interior decoration of the walls. The relief decoration is inspired by ornaments from Serbian medieval monasteries, and the recurring motif is an oval medallion with a chrysanthemum, but instead of Christ's initials, the name of St. Sava.
The music decoration represents the largest part of the interior decoration with smaller parts in the fresco technique. The mosaics cover 17,000 m2 of walls and are made in a golden tone in the image of Byzantine iconography.

The interior is vast and can accommodate up to 10,000 people. It includes upper galleries and a large central dome rising above the main space.
Ornamental reliefs and mosaic decoration are intertwined in the interior decoration of the walls. The relief decoration is inspired by ornaments from Serbian medieval monasteries, and the recurring motif is an oval medallion with a chrysanthemum, but instead of Christ's initials, the name of St. Sava.
The mosaic decoration represents the largest part of the interior decoration with smaller parts in the fresco technique. The mosaics cover 17,000 m2 of walls and are made in a golden tone in the image of Byzantine iconography.
A team of Serbian and Russian painters worked on the mosaic decoration. The central dome is decorated with a mosaic of the Ascension of Christ with the figure of Christ in the dome, and the figures of the Mother of God, archangels and apostles that surround it.

Below the main space of the nave is a crypt measuring 1800 m2, whose ceiling is 7 meters high.
In the crypt is the church of St. Lazarus. It is painted with frescoes depicting scenes from the life of Prince Lazar in the neo-Byzantine style and according to the Orthodox iconographic program.
The crypt serves multiple purposes , both as an exhibition space and for the maintenance of various cultural contents.
A special part of the crypt behind the altar is intended for the burial of Serbian patriarchs.

Written by Ivana Pantović