Key facts
The Temple of Saint Sava is the major Orthodox place of worship in Belgrade's Vračar district, and its long construction history reflects interruptions across Serbia's twentieth century. This record combines fixed milestones from the temple's official history with the exact Google Maps identity; it does not invent current liturgy times, visitor access or service arrangements.
The founding idea and design competitions
The official account connects the Temple of Saint Sava's founding narrative with events in 1594. The temple's history page says the relics of Saint Sava, kept at Mileševa Monastery since 1237, were brought to Belgrade and burned at Vračar. It then explains the aim of establishing a temple on the place associated with that event; this page does not make the location more precise than the source permits.
The same history records that the Society for the Construction of the Temple of Saint Sava was founded in Belgrade in 1895. Its purpose was to build a great temple at Vračar, and the account names Metropolitan Mihail and one hundred prominent citizens among its founders. The date marks an institutional beginning before physical construction. It must not be confused with the completion or opening of the present building.
The first public design competition took place in 1905. Its conditions called for a monumental church in a Serbian-Byzantine style, an interior area between 2,000 and 2,500 square metres and a separate bell tower. Five entries were sent to Saint Petersburg for assessment in 1906, but the commission recommended none for execution. War stopped the search for a replacement. A second competition in 1926 required a modernised Serbian-Byzantine approach, around 3,000 square metres and capacity for 6,000 worshippers.
Construction, interruption and resumption
The official chronology says the project was assigned to architects Bogdan Nestorović and Aleksandar Deroko in 1930, with construction beginning in 1935. During the first phase from 1935 to 1939, reinforced-concrete supports and brick walls rose, while marble columns and capitals were prepared. A charter was placed in the foundations on 10 May 1939. These dated details establish how far the physical work had progressed before the war.
The bombing of Belgrade and occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941 interrupted the project. The official source says the unfinished space was used to store vehicles during the war, the construction society was abolished in 1948 and building could not continue for a long period. Patriarch German renewed the effort from 1958; according to the history, permission was secured in 1984 after eighty-eight repeated applications.
The temple was reconsecrated on 30 April 1985, and construction restarted on 12 August that year. The walls were raised to their full height of forty metres. The central dome was assembled on the ground and lifted onto the walls with its copper covering and large gilded cross; the operation was completed on 26 June 1989. These are technical milestones stated by the source, not a basis for unsupported claims about present engineering or safety.
The modern phase and source limits
The official history records that work slowed during the 1990s and stopped in 1996, while the construction society was re-established in 2001. Exterior work was completed in 2004, ending a first major phase, and vaults in the nave and underground level followed in 2006. The Church of Saint Lazarus and the patriarchal crypt were formed in 2001-2002 and painted between 2012 and 2016.
The mosaic programme for the central interior was carried out by the Russian Academy of Arts under Nikolay Mukhin. The temple says more than three hundred artists and craftspeople worked on the project and that over 15,000 square metres of mosaics were completed from 2016 to 2020. It reports that the iconostasis, chandelier, stone floors and carved stone elements had made the central space suitable for its principal liturgical function by 2020.
The exact Google Maps listing is used only for the current place identity, the Krušedolska 2a address, coordinates and the rating signal at the capture date. It is not evidence for the historical chronology. Viki Angels reviewed the names, dates and institutional terms across four languages. Current worship schedules, access rules and visitor arrangements should be checked through the temple's official channels; this page presents the durable history that the cited source can support.
