The church is dedicated to St. Sava, founder of the Serbian church and an important figure in medieval Serbia. The temple has been built on the Vračar plateau, on the location where, in 1595, St. Sava’s remains are thought to have been burned by Turkish Sinan Pasha. From its location, the temple dominates Belgrade’s skyline and is perhaps the most monumental building in the city. The building of the church structure has been financed exclusively by donations. The parish home is nearby, as will be the planned patriarchal building.
The construction of the temple completes Belgrade’s skyline: Kalemegdan – Trg republike – Terazij – Beograđanka – Slavija – Temple of St. Sava. The temple’s main dome rises to a height of 134 metres (439.6 ft), from a level of 64 metres 210 ft above the Sava river. The church, thus, holds a dominant position in skyline of Belgrade and is visible from all approaches to the city.
The church building is 91 m (298.5 ft) long from east to west, and 81 m (265.7 ft) wide from north to south. The temple is 70 m (229.65 ft) high, and the dome is topped by the main gold-plated cross raising another 12 metres (39.4 ft). The lesser domes are topped by 18 more gold-plated crosses of various sizes, while the bell towers hold 49 bells.
The surface area of the ground floor is 3,500 square metres with three galleries: one of 1,500 square metres in area on the first level, a 120 square metre gallery on the second level, and a choir gallery that holds 800 singers. The temple can hold 10,000 faithful at any one time. The basement contains a crypt, the treasury of St. Sava, and the grave church of St. Hieromartyr Lazar, with a total surface area of 1.800 square metres.
The façade of the temple is done in white marble and granite. The inner decoration is being done as mosaics. The central dome will contain a mosaic of Christ Pantocrator. To give a sense of the monumental scale of this mosaic, each eye will be about 3 metres wide.
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