St. Sophia's Cathedral

St. Sophia's Cathedral is the largest Orthodox Church in the Far East. First built in March 1907, it was a military chapel built by the Fourth Infantry Division of eastern Siberia in Russia. After reconstruction, it was completed in 1932. It is the best preserved typical Byzantine architecture in China. The building, which was born nearly a hundred years ago, is magnificent, simple and elegant, and full of charming colors.

The walls of the church are all made of fair faced red bricks, with a huge and full onion dome on the top, commanding the tent roofs of different sizes on the four wings, forming a master-slave layout. The four floors are connected by stairs, and there are four doors in front of and behind. At the top of the main entrance is a bell tower. Seven musical bells made of copper happen to have seven notes. They are used by well-trained bell ringers hand and foot to produce the cadence of the bell.

The majestic and magnificent church of St. Sophia is also a historical witness of the invasion of Northeast China by Tsarist Russia and an important trace of modern history of Harbin. The interior of the church is now Harbin Architectural Art Museum, displaying precious photos in the development history of Harbin.

st sophia

synonym

St. Sophia's Cathedral generally refers to St. Sophia's Cathedral (Novgorod, Russia)

St. Sophia Church, built from 1045 to 1050, is the best preserved 11th century church in Russia and the oldest existing building in Russia. There are six domes in the church. The highest one in the middle is gold and the other five are silver.

Founded in 1037, the church was built under the order of Prince Yaroslav the wise. St. Sophia Church is located in the Kremlin Wall of Novgorod, with Byzantine pattern and design. It used to be the religious center of early Russia. The golden dome of the cathedral shows its importance. No church in Novgorod has such a golden dome. Gorgeous 12th century bronze gate at the west entrance. It was shipped back from sigtuna, the capital of Sweden at that time.

Address: No.88, toulong street, Daoli District, Harbin

Longitude: 126.62723493576

Latitude: 45.770102914048

Tour time: 1 hour

Traffic information: take bus No.1, 5, 20, 61, 113, 114, 206 and get off at Zhaolin Street station, then walk

Ticket information: adult 15 yuan / person, children and students half price

Opening hours: 8:30-17:00