THE TEMPLE OF SAINT SAVA Divine transfiguration at the heart of Vračar Until recently Belgraders boasted of the fact that the city's Temple of Saint Sava is the largest Orthodox church in the Balkans and the fifth largest worldwide. And as of recently they can add that this building is among the most beautiful in Orthodox Christianity. Alongside its impressive exterior, the interior of this building is also stunningly beautiful G old sparkles in front of the eyes of the ob- server, as a symbol of divine light. Millions of tiny pieces of cobalt glass used to make mosaics are there. They spread over the 15,000 square metres of the vaulted ceil- ing, where they form the New Testament images of the Resurrection, the Nativity of Christ, the Ascension of the Holy Mother of God and the figures of thousands of saints. The biblical story progresses in reverse, all the way back to the Creation of the world. There are also winged cherubs, celestial beings and guardians of heaven, in accordance with church traditions. The most impressive space is the main altar of the four to be found in the temple, dedicated to Serbian Orthodox Church founder Saint Sava, who is overhung by the Almighty Christ Pantocrator, occupying a cen- tral place in the dome, surrounded by a blue mosaic representing the sky. The refraction of light through the temple’s hanging candelabra creates the impres- sion that the saints are moving. The scene is simulta- neously unreal and realistic, because it is experienced
Da Hram pripada svim vernicima, pokazuje devet bronzanih vrata na glavnom ulazu, sa ugraviranom molitvom Očenaš na 24 jezika / Demonstrating that this temple belongs to all believers are the nine bronze doors at the main entrance that are engraved with the Lord‘s Prayer in 24 languages
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