| Saint Sava Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church | |
| Consecrated Date: | May 22, 1955 |
| Years Built: | 1953–1955 |
| Architect: | Petar "Pera" Popović[1] |
| Architectural Type: | Serbo-Byzantine Revival |
| Pastor: | V. Rev. Prvoslav Purić V. Rev. Drago Knežević |
| Diocese: | Diocese of Canada |
| Denomination: | Serbian Orthodox |
| Location: | 203 River Street Toronto, Ontario M5A 3P9 |
| Website: | svetisavatoronto.org |
Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church (Serbian: Српска православна црква Светог Саве) is a Serbian Orthodox church located in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
It is dedicated to Saint Sava, the first Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church. It is the first Serbian Orthodox church built in Toronto and is commonly referred to as the mother church of the local Serbian Canadian community.[2]
The church is located on the same site (the northeast corner of River Street and Gerrard Street East) as the Gerrard Street United Church which was built in 1880 and demolished in 1939 when the parish was merged with Saint Enoch United Church.[3]
The construction of the Saint Sava church and church hall began on June 10, 1953, and the cornerstone was consecrated by Bishop Dionisije Milivojević on August 22, 1953. The architect of the church and church hall was Petar "Pera" Popović, and the building contractor was Velja Relja. The single-nave church was built in the Romanesque style and adapted into a Serbo-Byzantine Revival style. It has a small semicircular altar-apse in the east while in the west is the main entrance to the church with a small vestibule. A small round dome also rises above the roof on the west side of the church. The church has three crosses. The church hall is attached directly to the north side of the church, through which one can also enter the church.
The first service was held in the church hall on Easter 1954,[4] and the foundation of the church was consecrated on September 5, 1954 by Bishop (now Saint) Nikolaj Velimirović.[5]
The church was completed and consecrated on May 22, 1955, by Bishop Dionisije Milivojević. Princess Olga (sister of Russian Emperor Nicholas II) attended the celebration and banquet, donating an icon of Saint Alexander Nevski made by her own hand.[5] The iconostasis of the church, the work of Sima Temovski, was consecrated in 1956.
In October 2005, the church was registered as a heritage building by the Ontario Heritage Trust[6] as part of the Cabbagetown South Heritage Conservation District.[7] [8]
In May 2016, the church made headlines as the site of a car crash.[9]