Way back in Turkish times, Serbian people of Sombor, craftsmen and merchants had a small St George’s Church on the northeast side of the trench. They reconstructed it in 1717 and in 1744 they began building a new big church tower next to the old small church. Having earned the status of Free and Royal City for Sombor (1749), they wanted to have a church worthy of the privilege which had been acquired so hard. In 1759 they began building a new church with no help from the state nor the foreigners, but with hearty donations from both the rich and the poor orthodox Serbs of Sombor. The church was built in a combination of neoclassical and rococo style and was completely finished in 1761. Having built the Great Church, the citizens of Sombor made sure its iconostasis was painted by the best iconostasis painter of that time – Teodor Kračun. In 1866 the old iconostasis was removed from it. The new iconostasis was painted between 1869 and 1873 by Pavle Simić, a well-known Serbian painter of that time.
Originally, there was a small hut in the churchyard intended for educational purposes in which Avram Mrazović established „Norma“ in 1778 – the first teacher-training school for Serbian teachers, which the Preparatory School originates from. Today, the head office of the Serbian Orthodox Church Municipality of Sombor is in this building.
