The Cathedral Church in Belgrade is dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. It is located on the corner of the streets Prince Sima Marković and King Peter I, in the old part of town (the Varoš; Gate) and in the vicinity of the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers.
It was built from 1837. to 1849. under the seniority of the Metropolitan of Belgrade, Petar Jovanović. The head architect was Adam Friedrich Kwerfeld, from Pančevo. This one-nave building was made of bricks and lime mortar on the old location of the XVI century church. In architectural terms, it was built in the style of eclecticism; a baroque bell tower above the porch on the west side dominates the classical style building. The complete interior decoration of the Cathedral (the wood-carved construction of the iconostasis, choirs, pulpits and thrones), according to the designs of the sculptor, Dimitrije Petrović, was accomplished by Dimitrije himself (works on the iconostasis) and Georgije Dević (choirs, pulpits and thrones). The icons on the iconostasis and the monumental compositions on the walls and barrel vaults of the Cathedral are works belonging to the painter Dimitrije Avramović, distinguished representative of the Serbian painting from the XIX century, formed under the influence of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. The wood-carved and painting works were done from 1841. to 1845.
An important reconstruction of the Cathedral’s facade and roof was done in the second decade of the XX century. Extensive works on conservation and restoration were carried out twice: from 1883-1884 and from 1993-1996. In 2003, three big icons from the western facade, painted with oil paint on copper base (1885/86) were replaced with Venetian glass mosaics with the same iconographic representations.
The Cathedral Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Belgrade was the center of many important events. Dositej Obradović (1742-1811) and Vuk Karadžić (1787-1864), eminent representatives of the Serbian culture were buried in the churchyard, in front of the main portal. Two reliquaries with the relics of Prince Stefan Štiljanović (1543) and Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović (1389) are inside the Cathedral, in front of the iconostasis. The icon with the relics of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco (1996) is near the choir. Serbian princes, Miloš (1780-1860) and Mihailo (1823-1868) Obrenović are buried in the crypt of the Cathedral. Four First Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church: Serbian Patriarch Gavrilo (Dožić), тVikentije (Prodanov), Serbian Metropolitan Mihailo (Jovanović) and Serbian Metropolitan Inokentije (Pavlović) also rest in the Cathedral Church in Belgrade.
