By the summer of 2025, the construction of a cathedral in honor of the Holy Royal Martyrs of the Romanov family will be completed in the capital of the Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka. This will be the first and only church built after the model of the lost Chudov Monastery in the Moscow Kremlin, but four times larger than the original.

As architect Alexey Kapustin told TASS, the exterior of the cathedral is almost complete—only gilding and the installation of domes and crosses remain, which will take about three months. With a bell tower height of 80 meters, the cathedral will become the tallest religious building in the city and its architectural landmark.

The idea of building the church emerged back in 1918, after the execution of the royal family, but was only realized a century later thanks to the initiative of Bishop Efrem of Banja Luka. The church is modeled after the Church of the Archangel Michael in Honed, which once stood in the Kremlin before its destruction in the 20th century.

The cathedral is being constructed from local light-colored tuff stone, with finishing materials from Italy and Syria. The cost of construction is approximately 1 billion rubles, funded by local authorities and the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The first service in the cathedral may take place shortly after the installation of the domes, but interior decoration will take about another year. It is yet undecided whether the interior will be decorated with frescoes or mosaics, though architect Kapustin favors the latter option.

Construction of the cathedral began in 2018 but was delayed due to the pandemic. Work is now actively nearing completion under the close supervision of the President of the Republic of Srpska, Milorad Dodik, and Bishop Efrem. In the future, another Orthodox church is planned to be built in East Sarajevo.