Serbian Orthodox Church of St George the Martyr (The Great Orthodox Church or St George's Church)

Serbian Orthodox Church of St George the Martyr was built in 1761 in Baroque style. Even in Turkish times, Serbs had on the same place a small St George's Church.

Description

Even in Turkish times, Serbs in this region had a small St George's Church, which was renovated in 1717. The construction of the new church began in 1759, and was finished in 1761. The church has the basis of a single nave basilica, with the extensions in the gallery and choir areas with an arched apse, built as a stylistic mixture of baroque and rococo, with a lot of neo-classical details in the front, i.e. on the western church facade. The citizens of Sombor provided the best Serbian icon painters of the time, Teodor Kračun, Jovan Isajlović and Lazar Serdanović, to paint icons, and they were contracted to paint the iconostasis in February 1771. The facade of the church was decorated in the following few years, and a new bell tower, 55 metres in height, was built in 1790/91. Serbian Parish reconstructed the church in 1865, when the old iconostasis was taken down. The new iconostasis was painted between 1869 and 1873 by a Serbian painter Pavle Simić (the author of a famous painting “May Assembly Meeting in Sremski Karlovci”). The wooden frame of the new iconostasis, made in neo-classical style, was put up in 1873, and it was made by Josip Kestner from Novi Sad and Karlo Ildinji from Budapest. Church windows are mostly decorated in stained glass which, by donors' wishes, were made by a famous and old stained glass workshop “Stanišić” from Sombor. In the church, there is an icon of St Nicolas (118 x 58 cm), painted by Konstantin Danilo. Originally, a thatched cottage was built behind the church, in the churchyard, in 1759 to serve as a school building, in which Avram Mrazović established the school “Norma” in 1778. which had the first course for educating Serbian teachers, which would, later on, develop into the famous Teacher's College in Sombor (Preparandija).

Responsibility

1.Serbian Orthodox Church2. Institute for the Protection of Culture Monuments of Vojvodina Province

Role

St George's Church is a cultural monument of great importance which is indivisibly connected to the history of Sombor and this part of Bačka. It represents a powerful testimony to the development of baroque in Serbian communities, especially taking into consideration the fact that one of the best artists at the time, Teodor Kračun, was interwoven in the process of decorating the church. Its massive baroque bell tower, 55 metres in height, significantly contributes to the final creation of the cultural urban landscape of Sombor.Regional importance

Potential usability

The Church is used for religious ceremonies of Serbian Orthodox population. It is not included in important cultural and tourism presentations. Beside religious ceremonies, the church could be used for organizing cultural events that by its contents would not disturb the concept of religious institution.

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