St Lazar's Church, Bournville

St Lazar’s Church stands in Bournville, a quiet suburb of Birmingham. It is a Serbian Orthodox church built in the 14th-century Byzantine style. The building is a full-scale replica of a church in Serbia, using bricks and stones taken from sacred places there. A Serbian architect named Dragomir Tadić designed it with the Bournville Village Trust. The church was finished in 1968 and has three bronze doors and a candelabrum brought from Serbia. Inside there are no seats, which follows Orthodox tradition. The church was created for political refugees from Yugoslavia after the Second World War. Exiled Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia helped secure its construction. Thirteen Serbian children had already come to Bournville during the First World War, supported by Dame Elizabeth Cadbury. The interior walls are covered with traditional Byzantine frescoes painted on wet plaster. The dome shows Christ Pantocrator, while the apse hemi-dome shows the Virgin Mary. Visitors find a plain brick interior with vivid murals arranged in bands. The lowest band shows warrior saints, above them patriarchs and priests, and at the top apostles and scenes from twelve major Christian feasts. The building is locally listed as a Grade C structure. Outside, the quiet streets of Bournville contrast with the church’s rich decoration.