St. Nicholas’ Church

In 1893, the Cemetery Church devoted to summer celebration of St. Nicholas Feast was raised at the circular intersection of the longitudinal and transverse alley representing the striking visual, symbolic and spatial focal point. The holiday of so called Young St. Nicholas or the Summer Feast of St. Nicholas is celebrated on 22 May and it commemorates the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra to Bari. The Church, a legacy of Draginja and Stanojlo Petrovic, was built in the Neo-Byzantine style and designed by the architect Svetozar Ivackovic, one of the most talented students of Theophil Edvard von Hansen, a notable professor of architecture in Vienna. The iconostasis was painted by Stevan Todorovic one of the leading artists in 19th century Serbia, while the frescoes that were made after the designs of painter Peter Ranosovic were the works of Andrea Domenico, a fresco master of Italian provenance. In April 1893, according to the moral concept of bequest, Draginja Petrovic, a philanthropist, endowed her church as a gift to the Belgrade Municipality. Before the construction of the St. Lazarus’ Church at Bulbulder, the New Cemetery Church of St. Nicholas also served as a place for wedding ceremonies.