The Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr, Црква светог Саве, Crkva svetog Save) 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 denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

church in

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Built in 1894, the church was the first Serbian Orthodox church in America. Amador County had a large

Serbian-American Serbian Americans ( sr, / ) or American Serbs (), are Americans of Serb ethnic ancestry. As of 2013, there were about 190,000 American citizens who identified as having Serb ancestry. However, the number may be significantly higher, as there w ...

population in the late 1800s due to the California Gold Rush, and the county's Serbs established the St. Sava Church Organization of Amador County in 1886–87; the organization was responsible for purchasing land for and building the church, and the effort was led by Sevastijan Dabović. The church's original design had an Eastern Orthodox influence, complete with an

onion dome An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point. It is a typ ...

; while the dome was later replaced by a bell tower, the church's stained glass windows and use of icons still give it a distinctive Eastern Orthodox character. The church has been used for Serbian-American religious and social activities since its opening and is now part of the

Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Western America The Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Western America or Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Western America ( sr, Српска православна епархија западноамеричка) is a Serbian Orthodox Church diocese located in the western ...

. Next to the church there is the

Saint Sava Saint Sava ( sr, Свети Сава, Sveti Sava, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; gr, Άγιος Σάββας; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1236), known as the Enlightener, was a Serbian prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalou ...

Cemetery where early California Gold Rush prospectors and parishioners and their descendants are buried. In 1922 there was a mining disaster that took place that impacted the town as a whole, but especially Italian and Serbian communities in

. There is a monument to eleven Argonaut Miners buried at Saint Sava's of

. The mass burial was held on September 22, 1922, for 47 migrant miners, among them 17 were from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, eleven were from Serbian lands in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, and the others were from other European countries, namely Spain, Sardinia, Austria, Germany, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland. Two decades later, another disaster occurred in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

at the Smith Mine where 74 miners perished, among them several Serbs. The church was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on March 6, 1986.

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* {{Serbian Orthodox churches, state=collapsed Eastern Orthodox churches in California Serbian Orthodox church buildings in the United States Churches in Amador County, California 19th-century Serbian Orthodox church buildings Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in California Churches completed in 1894 Historic American Buildings Survey in California Serbian-American history National Register of Historic Places in Amador County, California 1894 establishments in California

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