It was built in the 1860s, in the last decades of Ottoman rule, when the city's Orthodox community was allowed to raise a large new church. The design mixes Byzantine and Baroque elements: a cross-shaped plan with five domes and a tall bell tower over the entrance.
Inside, a richly carved and gilded iconostasis holds icons, several of them gifts from Russia. The cathedral is still a working parish church, so services may be in progress during a visit.
It stands in a small park just off Ferhadija near Liberation Square, next to the Catholic cathedral and the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque within a short walk, which makes it easy to see three faiths' main places of worship on one stroll.
