Virtual Exhibition / The Old Orthodox Cathedral Church
Thursday-Thursday / AUGUST 24 – SEPTEMBER 7, 2023 / Cultural Center of Nish / Officers’ Club
“Let it be known that the Nish Church began to be built both small and large for the temple of the Sainted Archangel. When the old one burned on the day of the Three Holy Hierarchs: it burned in the year of the plague and before it could be rebuilt: 6 years passed without a Church: as it burned down, the plague began. In the month of October 1819.”
– Quote by Nish priest Jovan Popovic Ikonom
In the bygone year of 1819, a special edifice was raised. Thanks to the good relations of the then-metropolitan with the Ottoman commander of the city, Hurshid Pasha, the construction of an Orthodox church was allowed four years prior. As the laws of the time dictated, the church had to be partially buried in the ground so as not to overshadow any of the mosques in the city. The old, unremarkable church was located in the courtyard of the later Cathedral church, and until its consecration in 1878, this ground-level church was indeed the Cathedral of the Nish Eparchy. At the time of the construction of this church, Nish was not echoing with desire for freedom; instead, a semblance of deep apathy prevailed. The people quieted down after the fateful battle at Chegar, the very one that Stevan Sindjelic had ended with a bullet shot into the gunpowder storage. Yet beneath the undisturbed surface, the defiant spirit of Nish was awake. The newly built, blood-soaked Skull Tower was not merely a thorn in the side of the oppressed masses. The skulls of the fallen rebels seemed to inject everyone with a new, second dose, of desire for change. The first response of the local populace was “Let’s build a church”, not just because the church symbolised a certain faith, but also for the freedom of choice reflected in it.
