Project Overview

The design of St. Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church is based on traditional Byzantine architectural style. The best-known example of this style is the famous Aja Sophia church in Constantinople, Turkey. This style of church architecture is characterized internally by a prominent central cupola, in addition to a smaller second cupola over the interior to achieve optimum acoustical effect.

The exterior of this Byzantine style is brick and stone with a prominent central cupola. The central dome with its cupola is the essence of the Byzantine architecture, which is the transition from a square footprint to a circular dome through a series of columns, arches and pendentives, which culminates into a spherical dome and its cupola. Windows are trimmed in stone arches. Masonry was the basic material used by the ancient Byzantines, and the lasting value of masonry through the centuries was a primary reason for using it on this project. This church has embellishments such as gold-leafed domes and roofs of three apses, as well as limestone columns on the bases of the domes and interactive work along the roof.