Friday Photo: Lazarica Church

Todays Friday photo is the Church of the Holy Prince Lazar, a Serbian Orthodox church tucked away in the back streets of Bournville. The church was built during 1965-68 for the use of political refugees who settled in Bournville after World War II. It was built and maintained with help from the philanthropic Cadbury family, including Dame Elizabeth Cadbury, who also led local efforts to provide housing and schooling for young refugees who had come to Birmingham during and immediately following the First World War.

The church is Grade C locally listed and was designed in a traditional 14th century Serbian-Byzantine style by Dragomir Tadic and the Bournville Village Trust. It is a replica of an existing church in Kruševac, Serbia, much of the building material was bought from there. I would have loved to see the interior as it has a full scheme of traditional Byzantine al-fresco wall paintings, but sadly when I visited it was closed – perhaps next time!