Belgrade’s stunning St. Sava Cathedral: Europe’s ‘Hagia Sophia’ (photos)

The Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade, Serbia, is a new church, which impresses with its size and decoration and is an attraction for thousands of tourists visiting the city.

The huge church has been modeled after Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and is today the largest Orthodox church in the Balkans and the second largest in the world.

Reminder that the largest mosaic in the world was completed as recently as 2020.

This is the “new Hagia Sophia”, the Temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade, Serbia. It was meant to be built a century ago, modeled on the sixth-century church in Istanbul, but was held up by wars,… pic.twitter.com/teBQb9617q

— Culture Critic (@Culture_Crit) October 25, 2023

Agios Savas was supposed to be built a century ago, but the construction of the church was postponed by the wars, the occupation and then the post-war communist regime.

The huge Orthodox church, 91 meters long with a 70 meter high dome, was structurally completed in 2004.

Then the interior finishing work began with huge frescoes and mosaics – in fact, the world’s largest mosaic completed only in 2020.

The church is built in the center of Belgrade, in the place where it is assumed that the tomb of Saint Savvasto whom the temple is dedicated.

The Ag. Savvas is the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church. His remains were burned in 1595 by Sinan Pasha.