The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour ( sr, Саборни Храм Христа Спаситеља, Saborni Hram Hrista Spasitelja) is a

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

church located in

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. ...

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

. A Holy Trinity Church was built during interwar

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

in the center of Banja Luka. The construction of the church took from 1925 to 1929, and was solemnly consecrated on the Day of Salvation in 1939. During the German bombing on April 12, 1941, the church was hit and the altar section (apse) was significantly damaged. In May of the same year, the Ustashas declared the church a "mound of the city" and ordered the Serbs, Jews and Roma to completely demolish it, brick by brick. During the time of the communist government in Yugoslavia, while many buildings were rebuilt, the demolished Cathedral was not allowed to be reconstructed. During the

Bosnian war The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

Eparchy of Banja Luka The Eparchy of Banja Luka ( sr, Епархија бањалучка) is an eparchy (diocese) of the Serbian Orthodox Church with its seat in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has jurisdiction over the north-western regions of Bosnia and Her ...

was granted permission for the destroyed church to be rebuilt, and the monument to fallen soldiers was moved to a nearby site, also owned by the church. The erection of the new church began in 1993 when the foundations were consecrated. This solemn act was performed by

Serbian Patriarch Pavle Pavle ( sr-cyr, Павле, ''Paul''; 11 September 1914 – 15 November 2009) was the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1990 to his death. His full title was ''His Holiness the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and ...

with the bishops and clergy of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The church was rebuilt under the name of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, because, in the meantime, another church consecrated in the name of the Holy Trinity has been built in Banja Luka (1963-1969), as a memorial to the demolished one, which the Orthodox Serbs thought they would never be able construct again. The cathedral is built of red and yellow travertine stone, originating from

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

, whose quality (excavation and processing) is certified by Prof. Dr. Bilbija, an expert from the Belgrade Institute for Material Testing. It is built with a three-layer wall: stone, reinforced concrete, brick. The domes are covered with golden stainless steel, brought from

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...

. Exterior construction work on the temple was completed on September 26, 2004, when the first liturgy was also celebrated. The liturgy was celebrated by 8 bishops with the clergy and deacons of the Diocese of Banja Luka, with the presence of tens of thousands of believers. The present church is architecturally identical to the previous one and is the tallest religious building in Banja Luka, with a bell tower 47 meters high and a 22.5 meter dome. The Bishop's Temple was consecrated by Bishop Ephrem on Salvation Day in 2009. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the founding and celebration of the

Day of Republika Srpska Day of Republika Srpska ( / ) is a national holiday of Republika Srpska proclaimed unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The holiday is celebrated on 9 January, and its unofficial patron saint is Saint Archdeac ...

, Patriarch Irinej celebrated the Holy Blessed Liturgy in the church on January 9, 2012.

References

Churches completed in 1929 20th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Serbian Orthodox cathedrals in Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbian Orthodox church buildings in Bosnia and Herzegovina Churches in Banja Luka Buildings and structures in Republika Srpska {{RepublikaSrpska-stub