PARMA, Ohio – When St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral's pastor Fr. Zivojin Jakovljevic reached out to his parishioners to finance its fresco project, they responded enthusiastically. After all, the tradition of iconography in the orthodox world is considered a sacred task.
The cathedral is located at the corner of Broadview Road and Ridgewood Drive and has been there since 1961. The parish moved to its Parma location from E. 36th and Payne Avenue in Cleveland.
In 2008, Fr. Jakovljevic reached out to the School of Iconography and Preservation attached to the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade. Thus began the St. Sava fresco project that has transformed the interior of the cathedral into a spectacular vision of Serbian saints and the Life of Jesus Christ.
Canvases with the iconography already painted on them were imported from Serbia and installed on the cathedral walls. Fr. Jakovljevic painted haloes in 24-karat gold around the heads of the saints.
Fr. Jakovljevic himself is a skilled iconographer, and in addition to being a parish priest, he teaches Serbian language and culture at Cleveland State University.
The St. Sava fresco project has been done in three phases. The first phase was completed in August of 2011. The second phase was completed in the fall of 2013. The final phase is scheduled to be done this fall.
There is still work to be done on the panels and canvases, and Fr. Jakovljevic will be giving tours of the cathedral this weekend during St. Sava's annual festival.
"Most of the church frescoes in the old country are done on fresh plaster," Fr. Jakovljevic said, "so they are really old – dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries. The iconographers had to be excellent painters because the frescoes were painted on fresh plaster. If they made a mistake, the painter would have to remove the plaster and start over.
"The frescoes' purpose are to educate our parishioners visually," Fr. Jakovljevic said. "You don't necessarily have to be literate in religion, but looking at frescoes, they get educated – a Bible in color."
When you look around the cathedral on a sunny day, the light streams through the stained glass windows, illuminating the completed frescoes on the walls and ceiling.
"In Serbia and the orthodox world, iconography is still an important aspect of our church," Fr. Jakovljevic said.