By 1930, as the rich and influential continued their uptown migration, the neighborhood around Madison Square had seriously declined.
The chapel was now located within the Tenderloin, the city's main entertainment and red light district, and the congregation had dwindled.
A Serbian Orthodox congregation, founded in the 1930s, purchased the building in 1942, with assistance from various Serbian churches, and the building re-opened in 1944 as a Serbian Orthodox cathedral dedicated to Saint Sava, the patron saint of the Serbs.
The first pastor was Rev. Dushan Shoulkletovich.
Peter II, the last king of Yugoslavia attended services here.

Gradual changes were made to the sanctuary to make it more Eastern Orthodox in style.
 A hand-carved oak iconostasis was added in 1962.
The Byzantine, hand-carved Iconostasis, brought from the Monastery of St. Naum in Ohrid, Yugoslavia, was placed in the cathedral and blessed.

The Icons on the Iconostasis were written by Russian iconographer, Ivan Meljinkov.

When a bomb went off near the church on September 4, 1966 destroying some of the stained-glass windows, they were replaced with new ones commissioned in Byzantine style.

Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle visited St. Sava Cathedral in October 1992.
This was the first time the New York Church community was visited by a Patriarch.

Outside the church are busts of Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich, who was instrumental in founding the parish, helped to organize the Serbian Orthodox Church in America, and was in later years the "luminary-in-residence" at the cathedral; Nikola Tesla, the inventor and entrepreneur; and Michael Pupin, a physicist of Serbian heritage.

Prior to the fire of May 1, 2016 around $4 million had been spent on renovations to the cathedral's roof, gutters, and its attached community center in the past decade.
The church's ceiling was repainted during those renovations to depict a nighttime sky.
By 1930, as the rich and influential continued their uptown migration, the neighborhood around Madison Square had seriously declined. The chapel was now located within the Tenderloin, the city's main entertainment and red light district, and the congregation had dwindled. A Serbian Orthodox congregation, founded in the 1930s, purchased the building in 1942, with assistance from various Serbian churches, and the building re-opened in 1944 as a Serbian Orthodox cathedral dedicated to Saint Sava, the patron saint of the Serbs. The first pastor was Rev. Dushan Shoulkletovich. Peter II, the last king of Yugoslavia attended services here.
Gradual changes were made to the sanctuary to make it more Eastern Orthodox in style.  A hand-carved oak iconostasis was added in 1962. The Byzantine, hand-carved Iconostasis, brought from the Monastery of St. Naum in Ohrid, Yugoslavia, was placed in the cathedral and blessed.
The Icons on the Iconostasis were written by Russian iconographer, Ivan Meljinkov.
When a bomb went off near the church on September 4, 1966 destroying some of the stained-glass windows, they were replaced with new ones commissioned in Byzantine style.
Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle visited St. Sava Cathedral in October 1992. This was the first time the New York Church community was visited by a Patriarch.
Outside the church are busts of Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich, who was instrumental in founding the parish, helped to organize the Serbian Orthodox Church in America, and was in later years the "luminary-in-residence" at the cathedral; Nikola Tesla, the inventor and entrepreneur; and Michael Pupin, a physicist of Serbian heritage.
Prior to the fire of May 1, 2016 around $4 million had been spent on renovations to the cathedral's roof, gutters, and its attached community center in the past decade. The church's ceiling was repainted during those renovations to depict a nighttime sky.
Trinity Chapel Complex