Source: New York Post
November 1, 2016
Firefighters battle flames at an historic Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava. Photo: Anindya Ghose via AP
Manhattan church officials are attempting to resurrect the 160-year-old Serbian Orthodox cathedral that was gutted by a massive fire last spring.
“We are definitely planning to restore the building, because it’s a place of prayer that has been here for almost two centuries and a place that has welcomed so many of our people,” the Rev. Zivojin Jakovljevic said.
“It’s a place we dearly respect and we really cherish in our hearts.”
All that currently remains of the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sava — located on West 25th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues — is a charred shell of a church following the four-alarm fire on May. 1.
Photo: G.N. Miller
While the scorched roof beams have been torn down and replaced with metal ones following a request from the city, the smell of burnt wood remains — serving as an eerie reminder of what unfolded that day.
It was Orthodox Easter Sunday. The parishioners had just cleared out from morning services when the church’s 69-year-old caretaker, Slobodan Ljubenko, accidentally left a box of candles burning underneath a pew, according to sources.
Police said the candles eventually sparked a massive blaze that sent fireballs and plumes of smoke billowing into the sky for hours.
Photo: G.N. Miller
Photo: Peter Gerber
