This is a list of the largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the world, based on area and capacity. Any Eastern Orthodox church building that has a capacity of 3,000 people or more, can be added to this page. Entries are included even if a premises otherwise meeting the criterion currently does not function as a church. For example, the Hagia Sophia in Turkey is included – it was originally built as a church but was later converted into a mosque. Sorting is done by volume (priority) and area. The church buildings are listed in alphabetical order according to country. The churches are from various jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
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👉 List of largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the context of Church of Saint Sava
The Church of Saint Sava (Serbian Cyrillic: Храм Светог Саве, romanized: Hram Svetog Save, lit. ''The Temple of Saint Sava'') is a Serbian Orthodox church in the Vračar plateau in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the largest Orthodox church in Serbia, one of the largest Eastern Orthodox churches and it ranks among the largest churches in the world. It is the most recognisable building in Belgrade and a landmark, as its dominating exterior resembles that of the Hagia Sophia, after which it was modelled.
The church was initially planned to serve as a cathedral, dedicated to Saint Sava, the first Serbian Archbishop and the nation's patron saint. The location at Vračar was symbolically chosen due to the Ottoman burning of Sava's relics on a pyre in 1594/95 after a Serb uprising. Construction began in 1935 after years and decades of planning, wars and political turmoil. The commission chose to base the design on the Hagia Sophia, a universally acclaimed church building. World War II and the coming Communist leadership put a halt to construction. Permission was finally granted by the Socialist Serbian government in 1984, after which construction resumed with revised construction techniques and the architectural achievement of lifting the 4,000 tonnes dome into place in June 1989.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: List of largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings
- 👉 List of largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the context of Church of Saint Sava
- List of largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the context of Christianity in Serbia
- List of largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the context of People's Salvation Cathedral
- List of largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the context of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia
List of largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the context of Christianity in Serbia
Christianity is the predominant religion in Serbia. The Constitution of Serbia defines it as a secular state with guaranteed religious freedom. Eastern Orthodox Christians with 6,079,396 members, comprise 84.5% of country's population. The Serbian Orthodox Church is the largest and traditional church of the country; adherents of it are overwhelmingly Serbs. Public schools in Serbia allow religious teaching, most commonly with the Serbian Orthodox Church. Serbian public holidays include the religious celebrations of Eastern Orthodox Christians. Other Orthodox Christian communities in Serbia include Montenegrins, Romanians, Macedonians, and Bulgarians. The Catholic Church is prominent in north Vojvodina amongst the Hungarian minority. Protestantism is most largely found in Slovak populations within Bački Petrovac and Kovačica. Christianity first arrived in Serbia in the 9th century. It became state-religion in the 9th century when Serbia began to identify as a Christian country. In a 2011 census, 91.22% of Serbians identified as Christian.
List of largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the context of People's Salvation Cathedral
The National Cathedral (Romanian: Catedrala Națională), also known as the People's Salvation Cathedral (Romanian: Catedrala Mântuirii Neamului), is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Bucharest, Romania, built to serve as the patriarchal cathedral of the Romanian Orthodox Church. It is located in central Bucharest on Spirea's Hill (Arsenal Square), facing the Palace of Parliament. At 127 metres (417 ft) tall, the cathedral occupies a dominant position in Bucharest's cityscape, being visible from all approaches to the city.
It is the tallest and largest Eastern Orthodox church building by volume, and area, in the world. The People's Salvation Cathedral will have the largest collection of church mosaics (interior decoration) in the world when it is completed, having about 25,000 square meters. Also the People's Salvation Cathedral has the world's largest Orthodox iconostasis (23.8 meters long and 17.1 meters high) and the world's largest free-swinging church bell.
List of largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the context of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia
St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Bulgarian: Храм-паметник "Свети Александър Невски", romanized: Hram-pametnik "Sveti Aleksandar Nevski") is a Bulgarian Orthodox cathedral in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Built in the Neo-Byzantine style, it serves as the cathedral church of the Patriarch of Bulgaria and it is one of the largest Christian church buildings by volume in the world. It is one of Sofia's symbols and primary tourist attractions. St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia occupies an area of 3,170 square metres (34,100 sq ft) and can hold 5,000 worshipers. It is among the ten largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings. It is the largest cathedral in the Balkans. It is believed that up until the year 2000 it was the largest finished Orthodox cathedral.