Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Belgrade

About

The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Serbian: Катедрала Блажене Девице Марије, romanized: Katedrala Blažene Device Marije) also called the Catholic Cathedral of Belgrade is since 1988 the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Belgrade. It is located at 75 Hadži Milentijeva Street in the Belgrade's neighborhood of Neimar, in the municipality of Vračar. The construction of the church began on 1938. It was halted by World War II in 1941, and continued only in 1987. The cathedral was consecrated in 1988, dedicated to Saint John of Capistrano and with the neighboring objects (old church from 1925, auxiliary edifices, etc.) makes the monastery complex known as the Marijanum, after the Virgin Mary (Marija in Serbian).

History: A group of French business people settled in the area in the early 1920s. Their children were taught by the Assumptionist nuns and the monks, who came in 1924, built the church in 1924-1925, which was colloquially called the "French church" by the local population. The church was consecrated on 25 September 1925 by Angelo Roncalli, at the time Holy See's apostolic visitor to Bulgaria, and the future pope John XXIII. The school, called the French...