UNITED KINGDOM – London, Saint Sofia Greek Cathedrale // Goldeneye (1995)

A Greek Cathedrale in London doubling as a Russian Church in St. Petersburg? The Bond crew did a lot of tricks for this “Goldeneye” local gem.

Why Bond was here
The evil Janus group steals the “GoldenEye” from the Russian army, a deadly electro-magnetic weapon controlled via satellite. The system was hidden at a supposedly abandoned radar station at Severnaya, in the middle of northern Russia. When the attackers hit, computer experts Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco) and Boris Grishenko (Alan Cumming) were the sole survivors. Both escape on different routes, the latter on a more safe one as he is aligned with the Janus terrorists. Then back in St. Petersburg Boris tries to connect with Natalya, luring her into a meeting. Both reunite inside a Russian church – where Boris then captures Natalya for the Janus group.

How you gonna get there
Though the “Goldeneye” crew filmed many scenes of the movie in the real St. Petersburg, the church was not on the location list. It is instead a mix of two places back home in London. The exterior is a chapel in Brompton Cemetery. Additionally the interior is Saint Sofia’s Greek Cathedral in Bayswater, London. The church is at Moscow Road, north of Kensington Park. Closest tube stations are Queensway (for Central Line) and Bayswater (for Circle and District Line).

Good to know
The church is actually not a Russian Orthodox church, but a Greek Orthodox cathedral. The interior almost hasn’t changed to the days of filming back in 1995. Thus the massive red cross is still up, candles spare dim lights, golden stucco ornament the ceiling. 
Some Bond blogs describe they had a hard time entering the place, since the church has irregular closing hours throughout the day. We checked with prayer times on the homepage in advance and were lucky. So we recommend, you check with opening hours as well. During our visit there was no mass, but even then we advice to move discreetly.

The area around Saint Sofia Church is a nice, yet high-priced neighborhood of London. There aren’t any special places to visit or great pubs to recommend. But Kensington Park with the Diana Memorial Playground is just to the south and, if you walk a bit to the west, the famous Nottinghill borough is close by. Why should you go there? First of all, the posh houses, the bohemian Portobello Road Market and the niche cafés make for a nice afternoon visit. Then second to that, there is a famous Bond location hidden here as well: Bonds bachelor flat from “Spectre”.

© 2023 Huntingbond (1,3), © 1995 Danjaq LLC. & United Artists Pictures. An MGM Company. (2)