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This is a list of the largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the world, based on area and capacity. Any Eastern Orthodox church building that has a capacity of 3,000 people or more, can be added to this page. Entries are included even if a premises otherwise meeting the criterion currently does not function as a church. For example, the Hagia Sophia in Turkey is included – it was originally built as a church but was later converted into a mosque. Sorting is done by volume (priority) and area. The church buildings are listed in alphabetical order according to country. The churches are from various jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

List

Name	Image	Area (m²)		Gross volume (m³)	Capacity	Built	City	Country	Jurisdiction	Notes
		Interior	Exterior
People's Salvation Cathedral		8,400 m²	ca. 13,670 m²	478,857 m³	7,000	2010–present	Bucharest	Romania	Patriarchate of Romania	Along with the largest volume and interior area, 126,1 m high and 120 m long, it is the tallest and longest Orthodox church building in the world.
Hagia Sophia		7,960		255,800 m³		532–537	Istanbul	Turkey	Ecumenical Patriarchate 537-1453	converted to mosque
Saint Isaac's Cathedral		4,000 m²	7,418 m²	260,000 m³	12,000	1818–1858, Museum 1931 Partly reopened for services 1992	Saint Petersburg	Russia	State Russian Museum	With 105 m length and 93 m width it is the Orthodox church building that has the greatest groundfloor extent.
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour		3,990 m²	6,829.3 m²	194,900 m³	10,000	1839–1883, Demolished 1931, Rebuilt 1994–2000	Moscow	Russia	Moscow Patriarchate	The church building has an underground area of 28,000 m², it contains the hall of the church council with 1,250 places, the hall of the synod meetings, refectory, and technical installations
Church of Saint Sava		3,650 m²	4,830 m²	170,000 m³	6,000−10,000	1935–2004	Belgrade	Serbia	Serbian Patriarchate	It is the tallest (78 m), longest (91 m), widest (81 m) and largest (by area and volume) church building in the Balkans.
Kazan Cathedral		4,000 m²			6,000	1811	Saint Petersburg	Russia	Moscow Patriarchate
Trinity Izmailovsky Cathedral		3,500 m²			3,000	1835	Saint Petersburg	Russia	Moscow Patriarchate
Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi (Tsminda Sameba Cathedral)		3,000 m²		137,000 m³	10,000	1995-2004	Tbilisi	Georgia	Patriarchate of Georgia
Novocherkassk Ascension Cathedral		2,988 m²		135,000 m³	5,000	1904	Novocherkassk	Russia	Moscow Patriarchate
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral		3,170 m²		86,000 m³	5,000	1882-1912	Sofia	Bulgaria	Patriarchate of Bulgaria
Transfiguration Cathedral		3,100 m²			9,000	1837, rebuilt 2003	Odesa	Ukraine	Moscow Patriarchate	severely damaged by a Russian missile attack on July 23, 2023
Smolny Convent		3,000 m²			6,000	1764	Saint Petersburg	Russia	Moscow Patriarchate
Kronstadt Naval Cathedral		3,000 m²			5,000	1913	Kronstadt	Russia	Moscow Patriarchate
Saint Sophia Cathedral		2,276 m²				1011	Kyiv	Ukraine	Orthodox Church of Ukraine
Church of Saint Panteleimon		2,068 m²			5,000	1930	Athens	Greece	Greek Orthodox Church
Holy Trinity Cathedral		2,100 m²			5,000	1990–present	Baia Mare	Romania	Patriarchate of Romania
Annunciation Cathedral		2,000 m²			5,000	1901	Kharkiv	Ukraine	Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Saint Andrew of Patras		2,600 m²			7,000	1908–1974	Patras	Greece	Greek Orthodox Church
Cathedral of the Lord's Ascension		1,706 m²			5,000	2017	Bacău	Romania	Patriarchate of Romania
Resurrection Cathedral		1,772 m²			5,000	2014	Tirana	Albania	Albanian Orthodox Church
Timișoara Orthodox Cathedral		1,542 m²		50,000 m³	5,000	1940	Timișoara	Romania	Patriarchate of Romania	With 91 m height It is the second tallest church building in Romania.
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral		1,450 m²			4,000	1900	Tallinn	Estonia	Moscow Patriarchate
Agios Minas Cathedral		1,350 m²			3,000	1895	Heraklion	Greece	Greek Orthodox Church
Saint Mark's Church		1,150 m²			3,000	1931–1940	Belgrade	Serbia	Serbian Patriarchate
Saints Boris and Gleb Cathedral		1,100 m²			3,000	1905	Daugavpils	Latvia	Moscow Patriarchate
Poti Cathedral		1,000 m²			3,000	1906	Poti	Georgia	Patriarchate of Georgia
Uspenski Cathedral		1,000 m²				1868	Helsinki	Finland	Finnish Orthodox Church
St. Michael's Cathedral					12,000	2000	Cherkasy	Ukraine	Orthodox Church of Ukraine
Church of the Holy Sepulchre					10,000	326	Jerusalem	/ Israel/Palestine	Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Transfiguration Cathedral of Ugresha Monastery					7,000	1894	Dzerzhinsky, Moscow Oblast	Russia	Moscow Patriarchate
Church of the Nativity of Christ					6,875	1857	Kyshtym	Russia	Moscow Patriarchate
St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral					5,000	1753	Saint Petersburg	Russia	Moscow Patriarchate
Sophia Cathedral					5,000	1788	Saint Petersburg	Russia	Moscow Patriarchate
Uzhhorod Orthodox Cathedral					5,000	1990	Uzhhorod	Ukraine	Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Iași Metropolitan Cathedral					3,000	1887	Iași	Romania	Patriarchate of Romania
Church of Holy Transfiguration						1873–1878	Pančevo	Serbia	Serbian Patriarchate

See also

• List of tallest Eastern Orthodox church buildings
• List of largest church buildings
• List of tallest domes
• Lists of cathedrals
• List of Greek Orthodox churches in the United States
• List of Russian Orthodox churches

Footnotes

1. The cathedral is projected for 10,000 people in the main cathedral building and underground galleries. A total of 7,000 peoples/worshipers can attend at the holy liturgy in the same time, with 1,000 – choirs (three places), clergy, three levels of balconies right-left, and 6,000 pilgrims. In the underground galleries can be accommodate 3,000 peoples.
2. Currently functions mainly as a museum, but services are held in side chapels
3. The church covers 3980 m
4. The official site specifies that, the Nave & Altar area is 3,650 m and the three Narthex area is 1,444 m. The total internal area of the temple (cathedral) is 5,094 m (without stairs). On the official site, the area of the temple is specified separately, not as a total. This is why confusion arises. Note! To the paragraph above: No, the official site does not say that. 1,444 sq. meters is the combined area of the second level and not the floor. This 1,444 sq. meters is the combined area of the balconies for the choirs. This is clearly stated in the official site and there is no confusion. Furthermore, the total external area of the church (without the stairs) is 4830 sq. meters – given by the official cadastre.
5. The official site specifies that, on the nave floor can be accommodated 7,000 worshipers. More precisely 6,300 worshipers on the nave floor and 700 choirs (balconies). In the temple galleries (underground), can be accommodated 3,000 worshipers. Also the official site specifies that, in total 10,000 worshipers, can accommodated on the nave floor and in the underground galleries. The nave floor criterion is considered standard without annexes. Also valued at 10,000 can be disputed including the annexes, to increase the value.

References

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6. Annual Report Umdasch Group 2018: The largest church in the Balkans (PDF)
7. Iftimiu, Aurelian (2018-06-29). "Mosaic icons began to be applied on the National Cathedral's iconostasis". Basilica.ro.
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12. ^ Official Site Построение Храма Archived 2023-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
13. Dmitri Sidorov 2004: National Monumentalization ant the Politics of Scale: The Resurrections of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow (PDF)
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36. "Iași Metropolitan Ensemble – The Metropolitan Cathedral". iasi.travel. Retrieved 10 July 2019.

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