Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (Bijeljina)
The Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Sarajevo (also Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God , Serbian : Саборна Црква Рођења Пресвете Богородице, Saborna Crkva Rođenja Presvete Bogorodice) in the second largest city of the Republika Srpska Bijeljina is a Serb Orthodox Cathedral in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina .
The cathedral, built between 1999 and 2009, is dedicated to the birth of All Saints Mother Mary . It is currently the Cathedral of the Zvornik - Tuzla Eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church . It is also the seat of the Bijeljina IV – VI parishes in the Bijeljina deanery .
location
The Cathedral of the Birth of the Virgin Mary is located at the intersection of Ulica Jovana Dučića and Ulica Srpske dobrovoljačke garde , in the Kruševlje district in the eastern part of the city center.
The municipality of Bijeljina is located on the Semberija plain in the Republika Srpska , one of the two entities in the country with a predominantly Serbian population.
The first Orthodox grammar school in the Republika Srpska has been built next to the cathedral in the fenced cathedral courtyard since 2013. Eight classrooms and a special classroom for prospective seminary students will be built on an area of 2,650 square meters . There is a soccer field next to the cathedral.
A monument erected in 2016 next to the cathedral is dedicated to all Serbian mothers who lost their sons in the Yugoslav wars.
The Sveti Sava House (Svetosavski dom), which is 112 square meters in size, was built near the cathedral in 2009, with a people's kitchen and the parish office.
history
After the Bosnian War (1992–1995) the seat of the Zvornik-Tuzla eparchy was relocated from the northern Bosnian city of Tuzla , as the majority of Muslim Bosniaks live in Tuzla and most of the Serbian population of Tuzla had fled or was expelled from the city.
Bijeljina grew through the Bosnian War with tens of thousands of new residents to a large city and was designated as the new bishopric of the eparchy. The new residents of Bijeljina were Serbian refugees and displaced persons from Sarajevo and other places in Bosnia, Herzegovina and the Croatian Krajina .
During the Bosnian War, Bijeljina was one of the first cities in which the Bosnian Serbs had expelled or murdered the Muslim-Bosniak and Catholic-Croat inhabitants in the ethnic cleansing .
A Cathedral of the Birth of the Virgin Mary is currently being built in the town of Zvornik , located directly on the Drina River . It is to become the new seat of the eparchy.
In 1999 the construction of the cathedral began on the plan of a Greek cross of 28 × 24 m according to the design of the architect Nada Filipović from the architectural office Data-Projekt from the second largest Bosnian-Herzegovinian city of Banja Luka .
On September 8th, Jul. / September 21, 2002 greg. , the Cathedral Patronage of the Birth of Mary, the then bishop of the eparchy Zvornik-Tuzla Vasilije (Kačavenda) inaugurated the cathedral foundations.
The cathedral was completed in 2009 and solemnly consecrated on September 20 of the same year by Bishop Vasilije (Kačavenda) in the presence of the then Bishop of the Eparchy Raška-Prizren Artemije (Radosavljević) and thousands of believers as the Cathedral of the Nativity.
The cathedral is sponsored by the President of the Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik from Banja Luka, the Mayor of Bijeljina Mićo Mićić and Mitar Perić also from Bijeljina. The godparents of iconostasis, church bells and church crosses are: Duško Lazarević, Svetozar Ostojić and Spasoje Mitrović.
The following institutions and people, with varying degrees of participation, were involved in the construction of the cathedral : the Opština Bijeljina, the company PGP Perić from the village of Dvorovi , Radivoje Jelić and the Simeunović family from Bijeljina, Borislav Vidaković, DOO Monako Bijeljina, AD Žitopromet Bijeljina, Predrag Perković, Rado and Lukrecija Manojlović, FIS-Vitez, Svetislav Stevanović, Dragan Anđelić, Ružica Jovanović, Ostoja Marković and many others.
architecture
The single - nave cross - domed cathedral was built in the Serbian-Byzantine style , with an altar - apse in the east, a central round dome over the center of the side arms of the cathedral and a 44 m high free-standing church tower on the south side of the cathedral. The cathedral was built from reinforced concrete and solid brick. The cathedral was covered with sheet copper.
The church tower is connected to the cathedral by a colonnade and has four bells that together weigh 4000 kg. It is one of the landmarks of Bijeljina and can be seen from afar throughout the city.
Entrances to the church are on the west, south and north sides. The cathedral has two silver crosses. Above the entrances there are large patronage icons depicting Our Lady of God.
The iconostasis made of Slavonian oak was carved in the workshop of Aleksandar Ninković from Modriča . The icons on the iconostasis were painted in the workshop of Petar Bilić from the Serbian capital Belgrade . From 2008 to 2011 the church was painted with artistically very valuable Byzantine frescoes. The frescoes were painted by Miloš Maksimović from Novi Sad , Đorđe Đorđević from Inđija in Vojvodina and Darko Živković from Batočina in Šumadija .
The cathedral has its own church choir called Srbadija under the direction of the conductor Prof. Dr. Desanka Trakilović. The choir was first founded in 1899 and renewed in 1992.
The church-charitable organization Kolo srpskih sestara (Association of Serbian Sisters) has been looking after the poorest parishioners since 2009 . The association has 28 members.
Priests of the Parishes of Bijeljina IV-VI
Before the parishes were founded, there were only parishes in Bijeljina that belonged to the oldest church in the city, the Church of St. George the Great Martyr . The responsible priests of the parishes who looked after today's parish were also employed there.
The current priest of the cathedral and parish of Bijeljina IV is Archpriest Miodrag Gajić, the current priest of the parish of Bijeljina V is Archpriest Milan Perković and the current priest of the parish of Bijeljina VI is Archpriest Mitar Tešić. The cathedral's deacon is Archdeacon Slavoljub Milošević.
swell
- Article about the cathedral on the website of the Bijeljina deanery , (Serbian, with pictures)
- Article about the parishes of Bijeljinas on the website of the Bijeljina deanery , (Serbian)
- Article about the inauguration of the cathedral on the website of the Serbian Orthodox Church , (Serbian, with pictures)
- Article about the construction of the orthodox high school on the RTRS website , (Serbian)
- Article about the memorial in the Semberske Novine newspaper , (Serbian)
Coordinates: 44 ° 45 ′ 39 ″ N , 19 ° 13 ′ 32.7 ″ E