SAINT-NICOLAS CATHEDRAL IN SREMSKI KARLOVCI

Recognizable by its two Baroque-style bell towers each topped by an Orthodox cross, the cathedral of Sremski Karlovci is full of treasures of Serbian religious art. It was built in 1758, at the instigation of Metropolitan Pavle Nenadović on the plans of Kosta Cincarin and Johannes, on the site of a small church dedicated to St. Nicholas dating from the Ottoman period.

This cathedral was the seat of the Serbian Church from the 18th to the early 20th century, and its interior decoration still reflects this past power. Thus the central chandelier surrounded by the Byzantine crown and the chest containing the relics of Patriarch Arsenije Sremac (the second Serbian archbishop in history) attest to its role as the residence of patriarchs for three centuries. The fire of 1799, which destroyed a large part of the original building, explains the narrowness of the choir but also the luxury of the decoration, including marble motifs similar to those of Saint Sophia of Tsarigrad (Istanbul).

On the side walls, the famous Serbian painter Paja Jovanović depicted, on the right, the return of the Serbs in front of the Karlovci town hall in 1814, and, on the left, a beautiful St. George slaying the dragon and the coronation of King Stefan by his brother St. Sava. But the masterpiece of the cathedral is its magnificent iconostasis, the work of Jakov Orfelin and Teodor Račun. Finally, the icon of the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus, set with diamonds and precious stones, is noteworthy.