St Lazar's Church, Bournville

The Serbian Orthodox Church of St Lazar, Cob Lane, Bournville, Birmingham, England was the built for political refugees from Yugoslavia after World War II.

Serbians have been associated with Bournville since Dame Elizabeth Cadbury sponsored thirteen Serbian refugee children of World War I.

Built in traditional 14th century Byzantine form by Yugoslavian architect Dr Dragomir Tadic and Bournville Village Trust it is a replica of a church in Yugoslavia using stone from the same quarries. Completed in 1968 it is of brick and stone with three sets of bronze doors and a candelabrum from Yugoslavia. It has no seats which is standard for traditional Orthodox churches. Moreover the interior has a full scheme of traditional Byzantine decoration. The dome contains the image of the Christ Pantocrator, and the hemi-dome of the apse contains the Virgin. At the bottom of the walls are the warrior saints, above these are patriarchs and priestly saints, and at the top are the apostles and scenes from the 12 Christian feasts. These wall-paintings have not only been executed in a perfect Byzantine style but they also are al-fresco i.e. the paint had been applied meticulously to wet walls.

The priests serving today are a father and son, Milenko Zebic and Aleksandar Zebic.

The cultural centre is a Grade C locally listed building.

ee also

*Serbian Orthodox Church
*Lazar of Serbia

References

*"Birmingham Buildings, The Architectural Story of a Midland City", Bryan Little, 1971, ISBN 0-7153-5295-4
*"Images of England - Bournville and Weoley Castle", Martin Hampson, 2001, ISBN 0-7524-2443-2