Religion

Belgrade has precious monuments of spiritual culture, churches, monasteries and places of worship of different confessions.

According to 2002 census, there are 90,68% Belgrade citizens of Orthodox persuasion, about 1,29% of Islamic and 1,03% of Roman Catholic belief, 0.24% of them are Protestants, 0.03% Jews, 2,02% of unknown belief, while 3% declared as nonbelievers.

The most important Orthodox church of Belgrade - the Cathedral Church was built in 1840. Some of the oldest are also the Nikolajevska Church (1745) and the Church of the Holy Mother of God (1783) in Zemun. The monumental St. Sava's Temple, the greatest Orthodox temple, can receive 12,000 believers. By their importance and look, one can also set apart the churches Ružica and Sveta Petka, crkva Svetog Marka, Vaznesenska, (Ascension) church, Topčider church and the church of Alexander Nevsky. In the wider city area there are also two old log-cabin churches in the villages of Vranić and Orašac.

In the Belgrade area and its wider surroundings, there are several monasteries built at the end of the XV century or later, demolished and rebuilt several times, and mostly wholly or partially, renewed in the last two decades. The monasteries of Rakovica, Presentation of the Most Holy Mother of God, Fenek, Rajinovac and Tresije are beautiful monuments of Serbian past. The monasteries in Slanci, Mislođin and Pavlovac on the slopes of the Kosmaj have been partly renewed. The ruins of the Kastaljan monastery are hardly accessible because the road that leads to them is bad.

There are also several Roman Catholic churches, one synagogue, one mosque and several places of worship of other confessions in Belgrade.

PATRIARCHATE OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
Kralja Petra I 5, tel. 328-2593, www.spc.yu

Today's building of the Patriarchate was built in 1934-1935 and designed by the architect Viktor Lukomski. The building has a square base, it is solid and has monumental forms. On the main facade, against the Cathedral Church, an impressive portico stands out, with low columns and an arched portal above which is a sculpted coat of arms of the Serbian Patriarchate. On the top of this facade, in a niche, is a mosaic composition representing St. John the Baptist. In the east part of the building, there is a chapel dedicated to St. Simeon. It contains a carved iconostasis, the work of Ohrid masters, bearing icons painted in 1935 by Vladimir Predojević.

The Library and Museum of Serbian Orthodox Church are in this building, too.

SABORNA CRKVA
Kneza Sime Markovića bb, www.saborna-bgd.spc.yu

It was built in 1837-1840 by order of Knez Miloš Obrenović, a according to the design and plans of A. F. Kverfeld, a builder from Pančevo. It is built in in style of classicism with late baroque elements. The church is dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. The interior is richly decorated. The gold-plated carved iconostasis was made by the sculptor Dimitrije Petrović, while the icons on the iconostasis, thrones, choirs and pulpits, as well as those on the walls and arches were painted by Dimitrije Avramović, one of the most distinguished Serbian painters of the XIX century.

The special value of the church is its treasury. The relics of Serbian saints Czar Uroš and Despot Steva Štiljanović, as well as the heads of the Church and Serbian rulers of the Obrenović dynasty (Miloš, Mihailo and Milan). In front of the main portal, two famous men of Serbian culture: Dositej Obradović and Vuk Stefanović Karadžić.

Svetosavska omladinska zajednica
Gospodar Jevremova 42, tel. 628-694
www.sozspc.org.yu

ISLAMIC COMMUNITY OF SERBIA IN BELGRADE

Gospodar Jevremova 11, tel. 2622-428, 3031-284 tel/faks 3031-285
www.izs.org.yu, e-mail: jus@beotel.yu

Mufti of the Islamic Community, tel. 2622-337, 3283-195
Council of the Islamic Community, tel. 2622-337, 2622-428
Damad Ali pašino turbe, Kalemegdan
Šejh Mustafino turbe, Studentski trg

THE BAJRAKLI MOSQUE
Gospodar Jevremova 11, tel. 2622-428

Built around 1575. as one of 273 mosques and masjids, that have existed in Belgrade in the Turkish times. Originally, its name was Čohadži-mosque, after the endower Hajji-Ali, a cloth merchant. It is a single-spaced building with dome and minaret. During Austrian rule (1717-1739) it was turned into a Catholic church. It was turned back into a mosque when the Turks returned. Hussein-bey, chehaya (assistant) of Turkish chief commander Ali-pasha, renewed the building in 1741, and, for some time after, it was called Hussein-bey's mosque or Hussein-chehaya's mosque. At the end of the XVIII century it was named Bajrakli-mosque, after the flag which has been raised as a sign for simultaneous beginning of prayers in all mosques. After its renewal in the XIX century, made by the Serbian dukes, it became the main city mosque. It is still in function today.

The written records on the existence of Jews in Belgrade date back to the XVI century. Researcher believe that Jews were present in Belgrade in earlier centuries, too. The Jews which have lived in the countries of Central Europe carrying with them the influence of German culture and language, called the Ashkenazim, have settled on the bank of the Sava. There is a still active synagogue at No. 19, Maršala Birjuzova Street, built in 1926 by the community of Ashkenazi Jews in Belgrade. In the middle XIX century there has been an old Ashkenazi synagogue which was pulled down during many reconstructions of that part of the city.

The Sephardim were exiled from Spain in 1492 and after that began to settle in the countries of the Mediterranean and in the Ottoman Empire. First of them have come to the territory of Belgrade in the XVI century. Their settlement has been on the bank of the Danube, on Jalija. On the old plans of Belgrade dating from the XVIII century, the Jevrejska (Jewish) Street was entered at the same place where it is today.
Judging by the historical resources, the Belgrade Jewish community has reached its cultural climax during the XVII century, when the yeshiva - Jewish religious school - existed in Belgrade. The rabbis, schoolteachers, have printed their books in Venice, Krakow, Istanbul.

There has been an old synagogue near the Jevrejska Street, which was built in the XVII century and reconstructed several times, as well as a ritual bathroom. The Jews have lived in that part of the city until World War I.
Shortly before World War II, about 10,000 Jews lived in Belgrade. Of that number, 80% were the Sephardim, which have used Spanish as spoken language until the XIX century, and 20% were the Ashkenazim, which used Yiddish, a mixture of German and Hebrew. Each of these groups of Jews was organized and had its own community with administration, school, cemetery and various religious, humanitarian, cultural and national societies. Today, in Belgrade, still exists the Baruh Brothers Choir, which was founded as early as 1879 as the Serbian Jewish Singers' Society.

The community of Belgrade Jews has been almost totally destroyed in the Holocaust. Dorćol and almost all synagogues were demolished in the bombing of Belgrade in April 1941. Jewish men were shot in mass executions during September and October 1941. They have been taken from the "Topovske Šupe" concentration camp at Autokomanda. Women and children have been destroyed in the "Sajmište" concentration camp in the period from December 8, 1941 until May 1942. Some of the Belgrade Jews have been killed in the "Banjica" concentration camp. On the Danube bank, where the Jewish settlement used to be, there is now a monument commemorating the Belgrade Jews, made by the sculptor Nandor Glid.
Today, about 2,200 Jews live in Belgrade.

Jewish Commune of Belgrade, Kralja Petra 71a, tel. 2622-449, www.jobeograd.org

Jewish Commune of Zemun, Dubrovačka 21, tel. 195-626, http://joz.rs

Federation of Jewish communes of Serbia, Kneginje Ljubice 14, tel. 2910-363, www.savezjos.org/sr/

Jewish Historical Museum, Kralja Petra 71a, tel. 2622-634, www.jimbeograd.org

Working hours: every day except Mondays, 10:00-12:00 AM

Sinagogue, Maršala Birjuzova 19

Jewish cemetery, Mije Kovačevića 1, tel. 768-250

Jewish cemetery, Cara Dušana 32, Zemun

BELGRADE ARCHDIOCESE

Archdiocesan Ordinariate
Svetozara Markovića 20,
tel. 3032-246, faks 3032-248
e-mail: nadbisbg@eunet.yu

CHURCHES

• Franciscan Church, Zemun, Štrosmajerova 6 (at the park), 198-134
• Church of Christ, Krunska 23, 3232-308
• Holy Trinity Church, Surčin, Vojvođanska 227, tel. 840-116
• St. Anthony's Church, Bregalnička 14, 2404-390
• Church of St. Joseph the Worker, Pribojska 23, tel. 763-059
• St. Peter's Church, Makedonska 23, tel. 3030-815
• Church of St. Cyril and St. Methodius, Požeška 35, tel. 3056-120, faks 553-510
• Church of Ascension of the Holy Virgin Mary, Hadži Milentijeva 75, tel. 435-712
• Church of Ascension of the Holy Virgin Mary, Zemun (kod pijace), tel. 616-281
• Church of Ascension of the Holy Cross, Borča, Žarka Zrenjanina 17, tel. 763-059

CONVENTS

• Convent of the Little Sisters of Jesus, Đevđelijska 51, tel. 409-043
• Convent of the Daughters of Cristian Love (Usmiljenke), NH Bore Markovića 8, tel. 555-489
• Nunnery, Krunska 19, tel. 3231-277
• Nunnery, Zemun, Gradski park 8, tel. 612-324
• Franciscan School Nunnery, Zemun, Karađorđeva 9, tel. 606-585
• Samostan Sestara franjevski bezgrešnog začeća, Višegradska 23, tel. 642-280