Church of St. George (Varazdin)

The first evidence of the residence of Orthodox Serbs in Varazdin dates back to Countess Katerina Tselskaya, the wife of Count Ulrich Tselsky and the daughter of despot George Brankovich . In 1454, Serbian scribes created the Varazdinsky Apostle ^[1] , which is the first Serb Slavonic book written in what is now Croatia ^[2] . Over time, the Orthodox community disappeared. Orthodox again began to appear in Varazdin in the first half of the 16th century, which was associated with the formation of the Military Border . After the founding of the Lepavin monastery (around 1555), Orthodox Larazvinites were fed by Lepavin monks. Without a permanent priest, the Serbs were gradually assimilated by the Croats, converting to Catholicism or entering into mixed marriages ^[1] .

In 1875, the court adviser Ogneslav Uteshenovich-Ostrozhinsky , a Serb by nationality, became the great zupan of Varazdinsky County . In 1877, he managed to organize a separate training at the Varazdinsky gymnasium for Orthodox children ^[1] . In 1881, Milan Vrabchevich, also Orthodox, became the Varazdin mayor ^[3] . On December 5, 1882, the city Orthodox community was founded, with Uteshenovich-Ostrozhinsky elected as its chairman, and Vrabchevich as vice-chairman ^[1] . On December 7 of the same year, two rooms were allocated to the community on the second floor of the theater, and in November 1893 the city government allocated a plot of land on Banska Square for the construction of the temple ^[3] .

The project of the temple was developed by the local engineer Zhiga Balochansky, and the work was supervised by the local builder Radoslav Atzinger. The construction estimate was just over 6,000 forints, which was a small amount for such a project. The Varazdin Orthodox community numbered only 85 people, so the funds for the construction were donated by Serbs from all over Austria-Hungary and even some Catholics. Before laying the cornerstone, 3,300 forints were collected. Another 1,000 forints were handed over to local authorities. Construction began on June 28, 1884. On October 21 ( November 2 ) of the same year, the church was consecrated by Archimandrite Miron (Nikolic) ^{[1] [3]} .

Until 1891, the church belonged to the parish of the village of Bolfan , and after that it became the center of an independent parish, to which the city of Velikaya Kanizha was also assigned ^[3] . The first rector of the parish on June 14, 1892 was Lazar Bogdanovich from Chepina . In 1900, the Varazdin parish numbered 250 people, including 134 soldiers, in 1905 - 158 people ^[1] .

The temple was built in the Neo-Byzantine style with Neo-Romanesque elements ^[3] . The length of the church inside is 14.5 m, the width is 7.3 m, the height is 9 m. The height outside from the foundation to the top of the bell tower is 22.75 m. The capacity is 230-250 people ^[1] .