St Sofia Orthodox Church

As the symbolic building in Harbin, St Sofia Orthodox Church is located in the intersections of the Toulong Street, the Diduan Street, the Zhaolin Street and the Shitoudao Street in Daoli District of Harbin, which is the biggest Orthodox Eastern Church at present built by Russia in the Far East with 53.35 meters (175 feet) high, covering an area of 721 square meters (862 yards) in total, and it is a model of Byzantine style architecture. The present brick- stone church was built in 1932, and it was enlisted as the key culture relic under state protection in November of 1996, which was open to the public as Harbin Architectural Art Building in June of 1997. It has become a unique attraction in Harbin, which is an ideal place to appreciate the architectures and entertain themselves.

The main features of the St Sofia Orthodox Church

St Sofia Orthodox Church is very delicate in a magnificent style: the walls of the church are built by red bricks, and the dome of the church is in the shape of a vast onion bulb with 4 small tent-shape small domes of different sizes on each side, forming a distinct master-slave distribution. There are 4 gates in the front, in the back, on the left and on the right respectively with stairs connecting the 4 floors in the church, and on the top of the main gate is a bell tower with 7 bronze bells, representing the 7 music semiotics, which are played by the well- trained bellmen with their hands and feet, and the sounds of the bell can be heard by the people from far away.

The magnificent and splendid Church of St Sofia Orthodox Church is a famous culture relic with exotic flavor in Harbin, and it is also the important remains to prove the invasion of the Czar of Russia in the past, attracting 1 million visitors for worshipping and appreciating every year.

Travel tips:

It is located in No. 88, on the Toulong Street of Harbin City, and you can take a bus No. 1, 2, 13, 15, 64, 66 and 113 to get there directly from the city center. It is open to the public from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm every day.