Sarajevo's Orthodox Churches (For Yugo) (tradition, minority, faith, catholic)

[Djamila]

Sarajevo has two Orthodox Churches - the Old Orthodox Church, and the New Orthodox Church.

The Old Church is in Bascarsija, the Osmanli-style market district. It's still a Church but it's also a museum and boasts one of the largest collections of Orthodox Christian icons and other artwork in the Balkans.

It's also right across the street from a french ligerie shop, which always seemed ironic to me.

[Djamila]

The New Church is built, again the irony, on Liberation Square - just a few steps from Multicultural Man, a monument to Bosnia's diversity.

It's, I believe still, the largest Orthodox Church in Bosnia - Mostar's was larger but it's ruined. It has kiosks inside, which I always thought was against Christianity - but I don't know. In any event, you can buy religious things there.

[Yugo]

So beautiful Mila!
Thank you!

Nothing can compare to Bosnia's historical religious buildings! The two Churchs you have posted along side the Mostar Orthodox Church are by far the most beautiful Orthodox sructures in Bosnia! I hear Algeria is helping reconstruct the Church? Has anything started, or are these just talks?

[James the Persian]

Hey, why is this just for Yugo? Have you forgotten I exist? Surely not. It's quite common to have kiosks inside a church, so long as they aren't in the main boduy of it. It looks from your pictures as though these are in the narthex (just inside the door) which raditionally is where the catechumens were sent to when they were dismissed, so is not considered part of church proper, though it is part of the building. Such kiosks usually sell icons, crosses, candles etc. I guess that's what you mean? Anyway, the second church is beautiful and reminds me of some Romanian ones. I can't say about the first one as I can mostly just see walls.

James

[Djamila]

Originally Posted by JamesThePersian

I can't say about the first one as I can mostly just see walls.

Hahaha - that made me laugh. The inside is gorgeous, cluttered and soft yellow if that helps. And short, it's only 1.5 floors high, this church. It feels strange to have an Orthodox ceiling you can jump and touch. lol

[Djamila]

Originally Posted by Yugo

Nothing can compare to Bosnia's historical religious buildings! The two Churchs you have posted along side the Mostar Orthodox Church are by far the most beautiful Orthodox sructures in Bosnia! I hear Algeria is helping reconstruct the Church? Has anything started, or are these just talks?

It's true - Algeria is helping rebuild the Mostar Orthodox Church, the Ferhadija Mosque (UNESCO World Heritage Site, before the war), and a Catholic monastery in... I want to say Piran, but that's Slovenia. Plehan I guess.

[Djamila]

Originally Posted by JamesThePersian

Hey, why is this just for Yugo? Have you forgotten I exist? Surely not.

What's this? Are you offering a peace treaty?

Originally Posted by JamesThePersian

It's quite common to have kiosks inside a church, so long as they aren't in the main boduy of it. It looks from your pictures as though these are in the narthex (just inside the door) which raditionally is where the catechumens were sent to when they were dismissed, so is not considered part of church proper, though it is part of the building.

That makes sense, then. A lot of mosques here have religious items for rent/sale either in kiosks outside the main gate, or in buildings on site that are secondary to the mosque (Ablution rooms, Imam's residences, meeting halls, etc.). The items are a bit more varied than in Orthodox kiosks. They mainly have icons and religious books - there's other, more traditional places to get things like jewelry (religious) and so on. At mosques, though, you can rent/buy veils, appropriate slippers, make-up remover for the cleansing, and all the religious items like books and these sorts of things. During some times of year there are also stands selling some fruits and other items traditional for breaking fasts.

Originally Posted by JamesThePersian

Such kiosks usually sell icons, crosses, candles etc. I guess that's what you mean? Anyway, the second church is beautiful and reminds me of some Romanian ones.

Yes, that's what they are. That Church used to be white, years ago - I liked it better than way. I think it was white with blue trim, in older pictures/paintings? But it's nice. There's a good congregation there too. They're still Serbs, of course, and they have many of those political views when it comes to Kosovo or other situations - but when it comes to Bosnia, they are completely with us 110 per cent. And they still have the community sense, which is very hard for a minority religious group to preserve.

By that I mean their going to Church is not a march of defiance or pride against everyone else around them, as it is for many, many, many churches of both faiths and mosques in different municipalities in the country. Their march to church is still a slow walk, inviting people for food afterwards, etc - and that's nice.

[Djamila]

I prefer pictures of religious houses of worship that are taken when they are alive with worshippers, so here are a few as this from the New Orthodox Church:

And from the Old Orthodox Church, during a visit by Serbian President Boris Tadic (who was born and raised in Sarajevo):