Slavija & Vracar, Belgrade

Hram Svetog Save (Saint Sava's Temple) is in fact the biggest orthodox temple in the world, though not complete yet. The construction of this monumental building began in 1894 but stopped during the wars. It was restarted in 1985.

With over 5 million publications, Narodna biblioteka (National Library) is considered to be major informative and cultural capital of Serbia.
The building in the picture's in fact the new library building from 1973. The old building was destroyed on 6 April 1941.

Saint Sava (1175 or 1176 - January 12, 1235 or 1236) son of Stefan nemanja, first serbian ruler. He was the first Serb archbishop. He and his father went to Mountain Athos in Greece ( Sveta Gora ) in Hilandar Monastery.
Saint Sava is celebrated as the founder of the independent Serbian Orthodox Church and as patron saint of education. day od St Sava is 27 th of January and it is celebrated in all schools.

This Temple is devoted to St Sava. Construction started 1985 and it is still under construction is the largest active Orthodox temple in the world today.

This is the monument to Karadjordje ( Black George , Jorge de Negro) He was the main guy in the First Serbian Rebelion against Turks in 1804.

Author of this monument is Sreten Stojanovic.

You can see on pic behind the monument there is St Sava temple.

History of the National Library Narodna biblioteka Srbije (NBS or National Library of Serbia) was established in 1832 and as such became the oldest cultural institution in Serbia.

The library started as a book deposit. Eventually several libraries where united and over time the National Library was established. In 1845, the library had some 1421 titles in its collection.

WWI brought caused a lot of damage to the library. During the boming campaign on Belgrade a good part of the collection was destroyed. Other parts were scattered all over Serbia including parts of Belgrade, Nis and Kosovska Mitrovica. Part of the collection even ended up in Sofia, Bulgaria during the war but was returned at the end of WWI.

At the start of WWII, the library burned right down to its foundation. The efforts to replenish the severely damaged collection intensified after the war ended.

The History of the Building The first building that housed NBS was located in the vicinity of the Main Cathedral (Saborna Crkva). The library was located there briefly from 1832 to 1833. The library was even moved to Kragujevac and it made its way back to Belgrade in 1840.

At that time it was located on Students Square (Studentski Trg). Then the library moved to Konak Kneginje Ljubice where only a few rooms were used by it and then it was moved to Vracar. In 1864, the library was moved to Kapetan Misino Zdanje where it remained until WWI. Part of this building was damaged in a bombing campaign during 1914.

During the bombing of Belgrade on April 6th, 1941 the library burned to the ground. Karadjordjev Park was designated as the new location for the library. The library stands there to this day.

The construction of the new library building began in 1966. The new National Library building was officially opened on April 6, 1973, the anniversary of the start of the bombing campaign that severely damaged the library.

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Set in landscaped gardens this beautiful building is such an impressive sight. The dome can be seen throughout the city and the building really stands out when it is lit up at night.

The decision to build the church was approved in 1926 and construction started in 1935. This was interrupted by the Second World War. Work only started again in 1985. Today the outer shell is complete but building work continues inside. It's possible though to go inside and worship or light a candle.

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Erected in 1979 this is a monument to Karadorde. His name was Dorde Petrovic but he was better known as Karadorde (Black George). He was the leader of the first large scale rebellion against the Turks in the First National Uprising of 1804.

Set on a mound with St Sava's Church in the background, the monument gives a great photo opportunity.

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Given that Belgrade is the seat of one of the larger autocephalous churches in the Orthodox Christian faith, you would expect that it would have a huge cathedral or church or some kind worthy of the city’s status as the capital of Serbian Orthodox Christianity. Saint Sava’s Cathedral is intended to fill this role and beyond, as it is the largest Orthodox Church in the entire world; unfortunately, incredibly slow construction saps some of its appeal. Actually, from the outside, this is still an impressive building, especially if you are looking at it from the statue of Karadordevic, which provides an excellent set up for memorable pictures of the Serbian capital. Once you enter the church, however, you’ll notice that it feels more like an empty warehouse than a place of worship. There is a sort of makeshift prayer room – I won’t call it an altar because it lacks an iconostasis and essential is just a collection of icons, relics and candles that is sort of a one-stop prayer shop for the faithful. From what I understand, the construction is rather slow – it was begun 1935, stopped several times because of war and the like, and the latest bought of activity began in 1985. Of course, more war and isolation haven’t helped speed up the construction. The Temple is built on the site where Saint Sava’s remains – the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church - were allegedly burned by the Ottoman Sinan Pasha in 1895. It is supposed to complete a line that goes directly from Kalemegdan Park through the city centre and that provides a sort of “axis of glory” for the Serbian capital.