The St. George Serbian 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 Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in the

Fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...

district of

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

. Located in Trajan Square, it is one of the three Serbian Orthodox churches in the city, along with the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Cetate's Union Square and the St. Nicholas Church in

Mehala Mehala (; ; ; obsolete: Măhală) is a district of Timișoara. Mehala evolved from a slum-like village (in Turkish language, Turkish ''mahale'' means "slum") to a neighborhood of houses, villas and many gardens. It is one of the oldest satellite v ...

's Avram Iancu Square.

History

A small Orthodox church existed here since Ottoman rule. In the 17th century this church was in an advanced state of degradation and was replaced by a wooden church. But the first representative Orthodox church in the

district is St. George Church. In fact, after the fire that destroyed the Orthodox church in the Cetate district in 1737, the church in Fabric became the only place of worship for the Orthodox in the city. It was built between 1745 and 1755, in the

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

. The church tower, with elements of

classical architecture Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De archit ...

, was raised in 1890, because taller buildings had been built in the square, which dominated the church from an architectural point of view. During the period in which it was built, the Romanian patriarchates in

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

had been transferred under the jurisdiction of the Serbian metropolis, which had moved its seat from

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

to Timișoara. Thus, St. George Church was a place of worship for Romanian and Serbian Orthodox parishioners, with services being held in both languages. But there were dissensions between the two communities, the Romanians wanting the hierarchical separation of the two churches. Thus, at the Great Assembly on

Câmpia Libertății Câmpia Libertății (''The Field of Liberty'') is located in the city of Blaj, in Transylvania, Romania. It was the place where two national assemblies were held during the 1848 Revolution, the first one in May, and the second one in September. ...

in 1848, one of the Romanians' demands was the recognition of a Romanian metropolitan in Timișoara. In 1865, the hierarchical separation of the Romanian Orthodox Church from the Serbian one was decided. A few years later, the St. George Church is declared by a court decision to belong only to the Serbian Orthodox community, and the Romanian Orthodox will build a new church in the Fabric district – St. Elijah Church.

Architecture

The church consists of a rectangular

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, a slender tower, attached to the main facade and a polygonal choir, the nave being provided with a gabled roof. The three levels of the tower are bounded by girdles. The interior of the church was created in 1775 and is the work of the painter Sava Petrović. The

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

of the church was designed in 1764 by the painter Nikola Nešković from the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

. The mural painting faded during the 19th century and was replaced with decorations done in tempera. In 1894 the vault of the church was redesigned by the German painter Gerhard Mentzel. The right and left votive offerings were made in the first half of the 19th century and represent the martyrs

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

and St. Demetrios. The twelve apostles and the Virgin Mary in the center are the only works in tempera that survive from the original work by Nikola Nešković.

References

{{Serbian Orthodox church buildings Religious buildings and structures in Timișoara Serbian Orthodox church buildings in Romania Historic monuments in Timiș County