Laying of the foundation stone of a new Orthodox Cathedral in Warsaw

According to a press release published on the official website of the Orthodox Church of Poland, His Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, will preside the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of St Sophia, the Wisdom of God Cathedral in Warsaw, on 05 December 2015.

The laying of the foundation stone will mark the beginning of the construction of the first Orthodox church built in the capital city of Poland over the last 100 years.

The land allocated by the local authorities of Warsaw for the construction of a new Orthodox church covers a surface of approximatively 0.5 ha and is situated on the Southern part of the Polish capital city, on the left bank of Vistula river, on 568 Puławska Str.

In the month of October 2015, the Orthodox Archdiocese of Warsaw organized a competitive tender after which an offer has been elected from the six submitted, and thus Budrem Group, a Warsaw company, has been appointed general contractor of the construction works.

The architecture of St Sophia, the Wisdom of God Cathedral

The design of the new Orthodox Church in Warsaw is based on the architecture of the renowned Byzantine Cathedral Hagia Sophia, built in the sixth century in Constantinople. The developer of the project, architect Andrzej Markowski has considerably reduced the size of the Cathedral: the new church in Warsaw will be 37 m long, 30 m wide and 22 m high.

According to the official website of Budrem Group Company, the project will be completed in December 2017.

The Church of St Sophia, the Wisdom of God will have five cupolas, while the interior of the church will be decorated with frescoes and mosaics. The Cathedral will be a one-storey building, with interior mezzanines, which will be used for the choir. The highest point will be represented by a strengthened iron-concrete dome, with an external diameter of 8.1 m and a height of 21.6 m. An important element of the façade will be represented by the 16.55-meters-high bell tower.

The land upon which the cathedral will be built, as well as a worship cross were consecrated by His Beatitude Sava, Metropolitan of Warsaw and of all Poland, on 24 October 2015.

Orthodoxy in Poland. Orthodox Churches in Warsaw

Since 2005, the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Poland has been comprised of 6 dioceses, more than 250 parishes, 410 churches, 259 clergymen, and over 600.000 faithful. The Head of the Polish Orthodox Church is His Beatitude Sava (Hrycuniak), Metropolitan of Warsaw and all Poland.

During the 20th century, the Orthodox churches in Warsaw had greatly suffered. In the 1920s, in the Polish capital city there have been destroyed or transformed in Roman-catholic properties: three Orthodox cathedrals, three parish churches, two palace churches, two hierarchal home churches, churches belonging to four educational institutions, churches belonging to six charity and medical institutions, two churches within penitentiaries, and over 20 churches belonging to military units.

Today there are two churches in Warsaw: St Mary Magdalene Cathedral (built during 1867-1869) and St John of the Ladder Church (built in 1905), and four chapels: St Cyril and Methodius University Chapel, St Trinity Chapel, Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple Chapel, and St Hieromartyr Gregory Peradze Chapel.

The number of Orthodox Christians in the Polish capital is estimated between 30.000 and 40.000 persons.

Source: basilica.ro