Cathedral of Saint Sava, Belgrade (must see)

Modeled after the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the Temple of Saint Sava is Belgrade's most imposing landmark. It is dedicated to Saint Sava, the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church and a national hero.

The church was planned to be the bishop's seat and the main cathedral for the Serbian Orthodox religion. You can trace the initial plans for building a church back to 1894. But the first stones of the church weren't laid until 1935, and construction was paused during the war years and communist rule.

The tide turned for the church in 1985 when a liturgy was held, attended by over 100,000 people. This proved that the church still had significant power with the population, and the communist leaders had to back down and allow the church construction to go on.

During construction, the greatest achievement was undoubtedly the lifting of the church's enormous concrete dome in 1989. The dome is 39.5 meters (130 feet) in diameter, weighs 4,000 tons, and is clad in copper. It was lifted into place using hydraulic machines, a process that took 20 days. The construction technology that made it possible was created specifically for the task.

The church sits on the Vračar plateau, the site where Ottomans burnt Saint Sava's remains in 1594. Sava lived in the 13th century and was known as the Enlightener. Besides being the first Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church, he is remembered as the founder of Serbian law, a diplomat, and one of the most important people in the country's history.

Saint Sava's is one of the largest Eastern Orthodox churches and one of the largest churches in the world. When the Hagia Sophia was again converted to a mosque in 2020, church leaders hoped that Saint Sava's would replace it as a "New Hagia Sophia."

One of the most notable interior features of the church is the use of light, thanks to the enormous dome and four apses. In addition, the interior is clad with 130,000 square feet of golden mosaics. The impressive installation was funded thanks to gifts from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Serbia.