The Church of the Nativity of Christ ( sr-Cyr, Црква рођења Христовог у Пироту; sr-Lat, Crkva rođenja Hristovog u Pirotu), also known as The Old Church (), is a

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the populat ...

church building located in

Pirot Pirot ( sr-Cyrl, Пирот) is a city and the administrative center of the Pirot District in southeastern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the urban area of the city has a population of 34,942, while the population of the city administrative are ...

in the district of the same name in southeastern

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. It is listed as a Protected Monument of Culture.

Description

The church was built in 1834 and consecrated by

Eparchy of Niš The Eparchy of Niš () is an eparchy (diocese) of the Serbian Orthodox Church with its seat in Niš, in Serbia. It has jurisdiction over the south-eastern regions of Serbia. Since 2017, Serbian Orthodox Bishop of Niš is Arsenije Glavčić. ...

bishop Jeronim. The construction was managed by architect Andrey Damyanov, who also built churches in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

Vranje Vranje ( sr-Cyrl, Врање, ) is a city in Southern Serbia and the administrative center of the Pčinja District. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 55,214 while the city administrative area has 74,381 inhabitan ...

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, ...

and

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

. The church is slightly below ground level and can be reached through a downward stairway. This is a result of the Ottoman laws that forbade the churches to be higher than the Turkish mosque. The Church of the Nativity is 22 meters long, 13 meters wide and 10 meters high.

References

Serbian Orthodox church buildings in Serbia 19th-century Serbian Orthodox church buildings Churches completed in the 1830s Buildings and structures in Pirot Protected Monuments of Culture {{Serbia-cultural-heritage-stub