page_title: St. Michael's Cathedral, Belgrade
section_title: Older church
hierarchical_section_title: St. Michael's Cathedral, Belgrade / History / Older church
caption_attribution_description: English: Coronation in Saborna church in Belgrade, Serbia Српски / srpski: Krunisanje Kralja Petra I u Sabornoj crkvi u Beogradu.
context_page_description: The Cathedral Church of St. Michael the Archangel is a Serbian Orthodox cathedral church in the centre of Belgrade, Serbia, situated in the old part of the city, at the intersection of Kralja Petra and Kneza Sime Markovića streets. It was built between 1837 and 1840, on the location of an older church also dedicated to Archangel Michael. It is one of the most important places of worship in the country. It is commonly known as just Saborna crkva among the city residents. It was proclaimed as a Cultural Monument of Exceptional Importance in 1979.
  The Cathedral Church is one of the few preserved monuments of Belgrade from the first half of the 19th Century. During the times when new social and political structures were slowly emerging, the Cathedral Church became a central support in the independence fight from Turkish centralism to the final freedom from Ottoman rule.
context_section_description: There was an older church, dedicated to St. Archangel Michael, at the site of today's church. Protestant priest and a writer on travel Stjepan Gerlach provided valuable records of its looks in his descriptions of travels of the Emperor's delegates to Istanbul, 1573–1578. Although spacious, with all necessary liturgical accessories and furniture, it was not large enough to receive all the Christian citizens of Belgrade.
  Later records of existence of this church were mainly saved by travel writers from the 17th and the 18th century. During the Austro–Turkish conflicts in the beginning of the 18th century it was destroyed, and the Austrian authorities were explicit in their order not to restore the damaged Serbian temples. Former Metropolitan Mojsije Petrović, who had expected the support of Russian Czar Peter The Great, who had meanwhile died, started renewal of the Church from its foundations, decorating it with a new iconostasis. 
  Following the Treaty of Belgrade concluded in 1739, Ottoman Turks once again entered Belgrade and "as soon as they entered the town they showed their anger toward Serbs and Serbian relics on this occasion". Impressive residence of Serbian Metropolitan was torn down, and the church was "robbed and its roof torn down". Few decades later, at the beginning of 1798, the church once again suffered from damage, this time from fire. Repaired for services it served until the beginning of 1813, when after breaking of the First Serbian Uprising Turks desecrated and robbed it. Necessary restoration work was performed after the Second Serbian Uprising.
  Following the Sultan's Hatisheriff on the day of St. Andrew in 1830, which granted Serbs the freedom to perform the religious service, and by the order of Prince Miloš Obrenović a wooden bell tower was built beside the old church.
  For the purpose of bell casting, a great fire was lit, which burned for three days. People would pass by and throw various silver objects to mould with bronze that was melting, so the bells would have "a more silvery" sound. Former Belgrade citizens were waiting for this happening "as for something great and unreachable. For them the sound of bells did not represent just an ordinary religious custom. The bells represented a symbol of centuries-expected victory". Decision brought by Prince Miloš was accepted among Turks with doubt and threat. An anecdote was saved until present days about a threat of Belgrade's vizier Husein-Pasha Gavanozoglu (1827–1833) referring to Duke Petar Čukić, who was in charge of construction of the bells, that he shall be punished for that. The Duke replied: "I know, I know efendi Pasha, if I raise them I shall die of Turkish hand, and if I do not, I shall die of hand of my master Prince Miloš. I prefer to die from a Turkish hand than from the hand of my master, as his disobedient servant.".
  Today, the bell of the old Cathedral Church is situated in the bell tower of the Church of the Ascension (1863) along with four more historical bells, different in size and origin. This bell sounded for the first time on 15 February 1830 when Serbian Princedom got its autonomy. Destroyed and repaired, the old church had struggled until 22 June 1836, when, after numerous discussions, Prince Miloš ordered the church to be torn down and a new one constructed. Construction of the new Cathedral Church had begun on 28 April 1837. Its foundations were consecrated on 15 July 1837,  a contemporary described as an exceptional happening, witnessed by Metropolitan Petar Jovanović, Church dignitaries of high rank, Princess Ljubica and successors Milan and Mihailo, serfs, children and "folk of both sexes". The cannons were roaring and people were saying "church blessing this happy and happier time". On the day of Patron’s Feast Day of the Church, St. Archangel Michael, on 8 November 1845, Metropolitan Petar Jovanović has consecrated the finished Church and served the first liturgy in it.
  Although the author of the design remained controversial for a long time, it is certain that the Church was built by constructors from Pančevo, acco
caption: King Peter I's coronation on 21 September 1904
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