Serbian monasteries

Gornjak

2012-01-11T16:28:00.000+01:00

Gornjak Monastery is situated not far from Petrovac in an interesting Gorge of Mlava River called Zdrelo (literally "Pharynx"). All through the Gorge there is evidence of past times: a solid fortress was here once blocking the road between two hills with its wall. Later the Gorge become known for its hermits whose cells within the caves as well as the remains of Medieval churches can bee seen in several places, among which the best known locality is called Mitropolija. Gornjak Monastery is situated within amazing scenery of Eastern Serbia leaning on the vertical rock with its north side. Gornjak Monastery once called Zdrelo is an endowment of Prince Lazar built between 1378 and 1381 with the spiritual help of monk Grigorije from Sinai Peninsula.

Once a rich monastery endowed with 240 villages, Gornjak Monastery sank to obscurity in the Turkish times. In the 18th century Gornjak Monastery is in ruins and immediately after the reconstruction it was burnt down again in 1788. In the First World War Gornjak Monastery was totally pillaged by the occupying Bulgarians while in the Second War it was set ablaze by the Germans who sent the abbot to the concentration camp never to return. Since 1968 Gornjak Monastery has been nunnery.

Although Gornjak Monastery was built on the Medieval trefoil groundplan, the present day church construction dates back mostly from the 18th century while the belfry and the porch are from the 19th century. The fresco-paintings were painted in 1847 and are of considerable quality. In the small cave chapel above the main church, the relics of the monastery's co-founder St. Grigorije are kept. Relics of Saint Gregort - Saint Grigorije are very respected by local population thatconsider them miracle and healing. Visitors to Gornjak Monastery the uniquely spiritual place can also see here fragments of the 14th century frescoes.

Petkovica

2011-12-30T12:25:00.000+01:00

Petkovica Monastery was built at the south-western part of Fruška Gora Mountain, close to the stream of Remeta, between villages of Divoš and Šišatovac. The most intense life in Petkovica Monastery was carried out at the end of the 16th century. Later due to smaller number of monks it was deserted to be visited only for the feasts of the shrine at the beginning of the 20th century. The monastery church was dedicated to St. Petka /celebrated 14/27. October). According to the legend, Jelena Štiljanović, widow of late Despot Stefan Štiljanović was the founder of the monastery. She spent her last years in Petkovica Monastery as nun. This could be dated to the first quarter of the 16th century. The exact time of construction of the Monastery is not known.

Petkovica Monastery was first mentioned in Turkish records in 1566-67 but only in regard with the monastery estate. Inscription on the western wall of naos of Petkovica Monastery testify on the completion of fresco decoration in 1588 during the Prior Akakije when the monastic refectory was built. After those documents there are no more historical evidences on this quiet and spiritual monument. Historical fact testiry that at the end of the 17th century Sinan-beg of Mitrovica wanted to destroy the monasteries of Petkovica and Kuveždin to use its stone for construction of his residence but he decided to charge monastery with the summ of 100 groshes per year according to the Mitropolitan Pajsije's requests.

During the time of the Patriarch Arsenije III Čarnojević Petkovica Monastery was abandoned so the Patriarch adviced the Abbot of the Kuvedzin Monastery to restore Petrovica Monastery. Most of documents about Petkovica Monastery is provided during the church visitation in 1753 in which it is known that the iconostatis date from 1735 by donation of Milinko Vuckovic from the village of Suljam. The iconostasis was destroyed in the Second World War and only woodcarved croos is preserved which is nowadays kept in the Church of St Stefan in Sremska Mitrovica. In the same report the church itself and the dormitories on the western and the southern sides are carefully described. Dormitories west from the Church were built of combination of stone and brick as well as chirch was built while the dormitory on the southern side represents the small structure built of wood and covered with reed roof. First reconstructions on the southern dormitory are described in the "Desription of Fruska Gora Monasteries" from 1771 where it is recorded that this part contains three monastic cells and the structure was built of stone. In this record the Petkovica Monastery is said as the metochian of Šišatovac Monastery and kept that status even during the 19th century.

Petkovica Monastery was first time rebuilt in 1884 during the reign of Abbot of Sisatovac Monastery Amfilohije Jeremić. Twenty years later dormitories have been destroyed so the Abbot Sergije Popić, asked for help to rebuilt the Monastery. But there is no records on the reconstrution until the year of 1927 when only the church surely was restored. The Church was damaged also in the Second World War.

Petkovica Monastery Church belongs to the true traditional Serbian architecture and to the type of one-domed structure with the combination of inscribed cross base and the trilateral form. It has cross shape base with the four-sided outside apse and ieght-sided dome and rectangular bell tower over priprata. On the souther wall there are three niches whose construction was operated in the form of the Saracene arch which ir rather unusual style. The basic architectural elements of Petkovica Monastery Church provide evidences that the constructor possibly had found inspiration in the form of Lazarica Church.

Banjska

2011-12-29T10:13:00.000+01:00

The monastery, along with St. Stephen's Church was built between 1313 and 1317 and was founded by the Serb King Stefan Uroš II Milutin, one of the most powerful Balkan rulers of the period and one of the most powerful rulers of the entire Nemanjić dynasty. Milutin built the church as his burial place and it is there that he was first laid to rest. However, following the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 his body was moved to Trepča and then in 1460 to the Bulgarian city of Sofia, where it lies to this day.

The monastery shared the fate of its founder. The monumental building with its church, library, monks' quarters and "imperial palace" began to fall into disrepair very early. At the beginning of the 15th century, a fire destroyed the library and in the second half of the same century the monastery was probably abandoned. Kuprešić, an author writing about his travels, mentions that the monastery was razed to the ground in the 16th century on the orders of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, as Christians who had fled Turkish slavery were gathering in it.

St. Stephen's church, which was almost totally destroyed, was turned into a mosque in the 19th century and served as such until World War I. The first conservation activity was carried out in 1939 and again in 1990, when the church was partly rebuilt.

Banjska Monastery is one of the few for which the founding charter has been preserved. From it we can see that the monastery was granted a large estate at its founding, of 75 villages and 8 pastures.

As the complex was built as the final resting place of a king, the Bishopric was "upgraded" to a stavropegial monastery - roughly translated, an Imperial Monastery, fourth by rank in the state (after Studenica, Mileševa and Sopoćani). The building works were led by Archbishop Danilo II, at that time a prior, later a Serb Archbishop. He was a close confidant of the king, as well as a man of letters and great knowledge. According to medieval sources, as well as oral tradition, Banjska was one of the most beautiful Serb monasteries, built in the style of the Raška school, which was used for all royal mausoleums, from Stefan Nemanja's Studenica monastery to Emperor Dušan's Saint Archangels Monastery.

Banjska Monastery was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia.

Krušedol

2011-12-28T12:14:00.000+01:00

Fruska Gora, the only mound of the otherwise flat Vojvodina (Pannonian Plain) has been the center of Serbian-orthodox spirituality for centuries. In an area of 50kn lenght and 10km width there are 16 monasteries built in the late Middle Age (even if legends tells that some of them were found as early as the 12th century) when Serbian culture was moving northward in response to the Ottoman onslaught.
The monasteries were built in the style of the Moravian School and the first founders of the monasteries were the despots of the House of Brankovici (descendands of medieval rulers of the House of Nemanjic). In the 18th century many of the monasteries were rebuilt in Baroque Style, getting tall bell towers and intricate Baroque iconostases.
During WW II the monasteries suffered severe damage by the hands of the Ustashas and many valuable objects were taken. Today some of them active and are renovated, others are undergoing renovation and other are left as they are and no monks live there anymore.

In this post I'd like to show some pictures of the best-known of them, located 13km of Sremski Karlovci, it's the Krusedol Monastery (Манастир Крушедол) and is known as the mausoleum of some famous Serbs.

The monastery church is dedicated to the Annunciation and was errected 1504-1514 and is a good example of Moravian Style (however Baroque details were added later).

The monastery was founded between 1509 and 1516, by Bishop Maksim and his mother, Angelina Brankovic (the daughter of Orthodox Christian Prince of Albania, Skanderbeg) who were supported by Walachian Duke Jovan Njagoja Basaraba. During the final retreat of the Turks from Srem, in 1716, the monastery was damaged and the church burnt down.

The renovation started in 1721, and was completed in the late 1760s. In 1726, a baroque bell-tower was added on to the West wing of the monks' quarters and between 1742 and 1750, the church underwent certain adaptations which did not significantly change its general original appearance. The monks' quartets were reconstructed and expanded in the same period.

The church was originally decorated with fresco paintings in the 16th century. Its interior was covered with new oil wall paintings between 1750 and 1756, done by Ukranian painter Jov Vasilijevic and Stefan Tenecki.

On the West facade, there is a composition of the "Last judgment" from the end of the 17th century. The iconostasis consists of icons from between 16th and 19th century and the Deesis (from early 1500) is a beautiful example of byzantine icons.

The church is also the tomb of the Brankovic Family as well as Patriarchs Arsenije III and Arsenije IV and several members of the Obrenovic dynasty - Pricess Ljubica and King Milan.

Today Krusedol is a working woman's monastery.

Vojlovica

2011-12-27T14:12:00.000+01:00

It is situated on northern side of Pancevo, within the industrial circle of Pancevo’s raphinery. A small village Starcevo is 5,5 km away from it, and the mouth of two rivers, Tamish and Danube, is only 4 km away from it. According to a legend it was built in 1393. Monastery was burnt in a fire and it was renovated several times. Its foundation belongs to school of Rashka. This monastery is mentioned in many earlier documents and it is one of the oldest archeological monuments of Pancevo.

Mentions and historical data: The monastery Voilovica was indirectly recorded for the first time in 1530. This is the oldest reliable record of today’s Pancevo for which it is quoted that it originates from this monastery. The oldest certain mention of the monastery comes from 1542 and it is established on the observation note taken from the collection of Bozidar Vukovic, published in Vienna from 1536 to 1538.

" I, sinful monk Parentie, a prior of monastery Voilovica, bought this book for twenty crowns from monk Ilarion.In 7050, since the world creation, and in 1542 since the Christ’s birth, there were 36 monks, deacons and monarchs who lived with me, at that time".

In Turksh cadastre there is a document which dates from 1566/67. It is quoted there that a monastery with a church of holy arhangels, situated near Pancevo, is accomodated by three monarchs who pay off annual tax of 500 akes to the emperor’s accounting division. In 1567(the same year) , kir Sava , a sinful prior, is mentioned.

A Turkish document, written in 1579/80, records that the amount of tax giving remained the same and that brotherhood of monasteries is consisted of six monarchs together with a prior.

XII century: A book called SKAZANIE ( it is written at the end of XV century or at the very beginning of XVI century and tells about the holy mountain in Athens) is connected to the monastery Voilovica. This valuable book is kept in a public library in Sophia. Information from the beginning of this century is saved, it is possible that this information comes from1607. According to it, there was a monastery school in Voilovica at that time. In the middle of XVII century the following note observation was written:

" I, sinful Ananie monk in Sudenica, bought this prologue from bishop Joseph for ten crowns in1652 in the month of August in monastery Voilovica."

In 1672, a note observation was written by one official magazine. According to that note protector Pamfutie gave the book (mentioned above) as a present to monastery Voilovica. In 1699, a prior of Voilovica, Victor, and 19 monks are mentioned. At that time the regularly paied a tribute to the Turcs. A sear with the inscription which originates from the very end of XVII century or from the very beginning of XVIII century says: "This is a seal of monastery Voilovica, a temple of the holy Archangels."

XVIII: There is the following inscriptin written on one of the oldest preserved tombstones: "Stevan Obradovic, 1701." A book called ‘ The interpretation of Gospel’ was bought for the monastery in 1709. Here is the inscription which was written on one of the monastery crusifixtion: ‘This is a crusifixtionof a prior monk, kir Anastasie, who was born in Voilovica’.This inscription was written in 1710.

The borders of monastery property were changed and drawn in 1765.According to these changes, the property eaw cosisted of plowed fields, pastures and woods. Its size was 1153 acres.

In 1913, the monastery possesed 1230 acres. In 1914, the monastery has been closed down for two years. Between the two wars, from 1923 to the internation into the concetration camp Pahao, Serbian prior Gavrilo Dozic and his associates were emprisoned in Voilovica.

Today’s holy dinning table, which was made of marble, dates from 1816. Tall belfry ,with a part of new priprata, was built onto the church in 1836. The newly made or added building on western side dates from 1841. In 1890, a small ‘chapel with a mill’ was built and added to the monastery property.This chapel remained till today. The monastery buildings where monks slept got their final look with all the renovations and enlargements from 1909 to 1911. This confirms that the situational plan from that period has been reserved. In 1981/88 the monastery was renovated for the last time.

Klisura

2011-12-26T15:25:00.000+01:00

Klisura Monastery is located in Dobrača village, beside the road connecting Arilje and Ivanjica, between rocky terrains of mountains and the canyon of Moravica River /klisura/ after whom it got its name. Klisura Monastery is dedicated to St. Archangels Michael and Gabriel and was known by the name Dobrača Monastery in the past. The legend says that the monastery of Dobrača was founded by good man /dobar čovek/ who was servant of Nemanjic Dynasty. The most important object within the Klisura monastic complex is the relatively small Church of Saint Archangels. The Klisura Monastery church was built in the 13th century in Raska School of architecture by the pattern of nearby Church of St. Achilles in Arilje. The Church of Klisura Monastery has the free-cross base with the highly elevated eight-sided dome and the narthex to the west which is slightly narrower than the central naos and the wooden porch before the narthex/ added in the 18th century/.

Rectangular chapels are on both northern and southern sides of the semicircular apse. The wooden belfry sits some 10 meters away from the church. Its structure is similar to the Church of St. Achilles and the Church of Pridvorica Monastery and Moraca and St. Trinity Monasteries. Klisura Monastery Church was built of limestone and was fresco decorated. Besides the patrons of the temple depictions and figures of Serbian saints and rulers there are depictions of various historical persons significant for the Serbian history and epic tradition. Precious icons are work of art of icon-painters Simeon Lazovic and Dimitrije Posnikovic. Here are also rare Russian icons kept. The portal itself is unique woodcarving work of art.

The monastic complex of Klisura Monastery consists of the Church, the belfry, the dormitories, the Winter Chapel and economic buildings. During the Medieval period Klisura Monastery was connected with Arilje where in the 18th century there was the Episcopal seat /established by St. Sava/. Klisura Monastery was destroyed in the fire in 1688 to be deserted in 1690 after the Great Serbian Migration led by the Bishop Arsenije the Third.

Klisura Monastery remained in ruins for a century to have been restored in 1798. Since 1961 Klisura Monastery is nunnery. Klisura Monastery has great cultural, historical and architectural importance of the artistic and monumental value bearing witness the artistic works and cultural issues of the South-western Serbia. The Patron Saint of Klisura Monastery /slava/ is celebrated every year that gathers many guests from area of Moravica, Arilje and Dragacevo.

Kaona

2011-12-25T12:44:00.000+01:00

Kaona Monastery, 100 km south-west from Belgrade, in the vicinity of Draginje village was built as legacy of Ikonia, the sister of Milos Obilic, famous Serbian hero who was killed in the Battle of Kosovo. The witness of the ancient time today Kaona Monastery is rebuilt and became spiritual center and gathering place of the Orthodox population. Since the end of 11th century, when the Kaona Monastery was for the first time mentioned, the church was destroyed end reconstructed several times.

Kaona Monastery had school in 1827 and there are some records that testify of the school from 1793. During the First Serbian Uprising Kaona Monastery was hospital. The Church of Kaona Monastery was destroyed in the First World War when the archive was set aflame and church bells were taken away.

In the surrounding of the beautiful landscape, nearby the Baptistery building, there is a healing water spring (with water as one of the best quality in Serbia) passing through the monastery field and creating the specially tranquil lakes of magnificent beauty. The present church was built in early Christian stile, the first in Serbia after the seven centuries as a prototype of Baptistery from Theba of Thesaly. In 1992 the 100 years of the new church was celebrated as well as the six centuries of Kaona Monastery.

Gradac

2011-12-24T13:45:00.000+01:00

Gradac Monastery is situated on the wooded and secluded slopes of Golija Mountain on the place called by locals Petrov Krs. Gradac Monastery was built in the late 13th century, on the ruins of an earlier church. Gradac Monastery is the endowment of Queen Jelena Anzujska /Queen Helen Anjou/, French origin wife of the King Uros I. The Church of Gradac Monastery is dedicated to the Presentation of the Holy Virgin. In the architecture of the shrine of Gradac Monastery that is example of monumental Raska school of architecture there are numerous Gothic /Romanesque/ elements, especially on the portals and on all biforas /windows divided by a colonnete into two arches/.

In the temple there is the marble sarcophagus where the St. Queen was buried. Her relics were moved from here during the Turkish invasion by monks and nowadays it is not clear where they are kept. The relics of King Dragutin /later monk St. Teoktist/ were brought to Gradac Monastery from Decani Monastery.

The fresco decoration of the Gradac Monastery interior is considerably damaged but the endower's composition is still visible. The original stone iconostasis is preserved in primary edition. Gradac Monastery is nowdays functioning as a nunnery and in its glorious beauty represents one of the most attractive medieval Serb cultural and historical monuments and spiritual centers. Nuns happily live their evangelilic lifes and do icon-painting and handwork /weaving and gold-embroidery on silk/. During archaeological exploration of the Gradac Monastery undertaken in 2005 eight test trenches were opened, totaling 70 m2 on the outer side of St. Bogorodica /Holy Virgin/ Church.

In addition to the medieval cultural layer and the Medieval cemetery that has been identified earlier, the prehistoric cultural layer with an overall thickness of 0,8 meter was also discovered. This prehistoric cultural layer with three building horizons and associated archaeological material, formed over a long period of time, from the very end of the early and throughout a large part of the developed Bronze Age. In the earliest prehistoric layers to which two building horizon belong Early Bronze Age pottery was found. "Days of Queen Jelena", the unique cultural event /manifestation/ is held at the beginning of May every year to celebrate the Queen and her endowment when numerous competitions in old crafts and knights' games are organized. Gradac Monastery is favorite destination in our tours.

Drača

2011-12-23T13:42:00.000+01:00

Draca is Serbian Orthodox monastery. It was founded probably in the second half of the 16th century, although the tradition links it with despot Stefan Lazarevic. The identity of monastery founder is lost, and the first monastery location is uncertain, but it is not its present day location.

During the short period of so-called First Habsburg Serbia, in 1734, Stanisa Markovic Mlatisuma reestablished the monastery and erected the Church of Saint Nicholas on the foundation of an older church. Stanisa Markovic Mlatisuma was born in Montenegro, near Niksic. He joined Austrian army, and after the Austro-Turkish War and the signing of Treaty of Pozarevac, in 1718, he was promoted for his courage in battles, to the rank of obercaptain and he become the commander the south front of the Serbian police. After another war with Austria and the Belgrade Treaty, signed in 1739, Ottoman Empire regained power over Serbia. Stanisa Markovic Mlatisuma was accused for being unsuccessful in this war, and he died imprisoned in Osijek, two years later, in 1741. The site of his grave is not known, his name is not widely known as well, but his generous deed preserved his name from oblivion.

In the late 18th century Turks set fire to the monastery and intentionally damaged the frescoes in the church. The reason for that brutal act was the refuge Koca Andjelkovic, the leader of Serb rebellion, had found in the monastery.

The 19th century and the liberation of Serbia had brought the period of prosperity to the monastery. In the 4th decade of the 19th century Toma Vucic Perisic, hero from the First and the Second Serbian Uprising, financed the building of the bell tower, the new monastery inn and a fence.

Nowadays Draca monastery is beautiful, maintained place, settled in the very nice green valley. Inside the fence there are Crkva Svetog Nikole – Church of Saint Nicholas, and two monastery inns. All of the monastery buildings have been restored in the second half of the 20th century.

Draca Monastery is 9 km from Kragujevac, slightly off the road to Gornji Milanovac. It is easy to reach it by car, just by turning left when traveling from Kragujevac (there is brown sign with symbol), and then, simply, following the road.

Ćelije

2011-12-22T12:09:00.000+01:00

Ćelije Monastery is situated on the bank of the River Gradac near the village of Lelić 5 km from Valjevo. According to one legend, the benefactor of the monastery was King Dragutin (1276-1282); however a second legend has it that the monastery was built in the late 14th or early 15th Century in the time of King Stefan Lazarevic. Monks from the monastery joined the First Serbian Uprising (against the Turks) in 1804.

In 1791 the Turkish military commander of the Valjevo region called General Mahmud Bušatlija burnt ]elije and 13 other monasteries to the ground. Ćelija Monastery was rebuilt in 1793. Because the Monastery was used as a Serbian military hospital during the First Serbian Uprising of 1804 the Turks again burnt the monastery to the ground in 1810. In the following year of 1811 it was again rebuilt . The bell tower was built in 1926 at the north end of the monastery church.

The first Iconostas was painted by Petar Nikolajević Moler between the period of 1798 to 1800 however, In 1810 the Iconostas was destroyed by the Turkish Army. In addition to being an artist Moler fought, with the rank of a general, in the First Serbian Uprising. In the churchyard is the grave of Duke Ilija Birčanin, a famous leader, who was executed by the Turks at the Kolubara River in Valjevo in 1804.

A school was opened at the monastery in 1966 which teaches artists the art of Icon painting and the monastery also publishes many religious works. Ćelije is now inhabited by Nuns. The monastery was also famous because a prominent theologist Archimandrite Justin Popović Ph.D. was its spiritual leader from 1948 to 1979. He is buried in the churchyard. Archimandrite Justin wrote many books on theology and is one of the founders of The Serbian Philosophers Society.

Chilandar

2011-12-21T11:29:00.000+01:00

The monastery of Chilandar is first mentioned in a Greek manuscript of 1015, but as being "completely abandoned and empty", for which reason it was given to the monastery of Kastamonitou. It was certainly established a good hundred years earlier: a certain George Chelandarios (Boatman), mentioned among important Athonites in 980 was probably the founder of the monastery, which was subsequently called after him (h monh tou Celandariou). The monastery's name appears thus in Greek acts of the 11th and 12th centuries, but later, in the first Serbian sources, it takes the form of Hilandar (D. Anastasijevich). At that time the monastery was already dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple (November 21). The last appearance of the form Chelandar is in a Protaton act of 1169, the signatories of which included abbot Gerasimus of Chelandar. After this, the monastery declined and was abandoned, like many other small monasteries and kellia at Milees, as this part of Athos was called in the Middle Ages. Up till that time, the area had been prey to constant attacks by pirates and brigands of various kinds.

Chilandar was renewed by the Grand Zhupan of Serbia Stefan Nemanja (the monk Simeon) and his son Rastko (St. Sava). Sava came to Athos in 1191 and was shorn in Roussikon, but soon moved to the Greek monastery of Vatopedi. Here he awaited his father, who had renounced the throne, entered the monastery of Studenica in Serbia in 1196, and in November the following year came to Athos as the megaloschemos (senior monk wearing the great habit) Simeon. Father and son immediately undertook all that was necessary to found a Serbian house on the Holy Mountain. First of all, early in 1198, Sava obtained from Emperor Alexius III in Constantinople a gold-sealed sigillion transferring the abandoned small monastery of Chilandar (Helandar) from the protos to Vatopedi, for the purpose of its restoration. The sigillion was accompanied by the appropriate documents: prostagma and praktikon (catastral document on the boundaries of Chilandar's estate). Work on the construction of Chilandar then commenced. Sava and Simeon managed to overcome Vatopedi's opposition to giving Chilandar to the Serbs with the aid of the Karyes protos and Assembly, who together sent a request to the emperor that Chilandar be handed over to Simeon and Sava. The latter personally requested Alexius to give the monastery the independent status enjoyed by Iviron (a Georgian monastery) and Amalfitans (Italian). Emperor Alexius agreed, and by a chrysobull of June 1198 placed Chilandar with all the holy places at Milees under the authority and administration of Simeon and Sava as a completely self-governing monastery, "to be a gift to the Serbs in perpetuity". Shortly after, in the latter half of 1198, Simeon Nemanja issued a gold-sealed charter to Chilandar constituting it as a Serbian monastery and the hereditary foundation of the Nemanjich family. At the same time, the nucleus of Chilandar's landed property was created: Alexius gave Simeon the serfs of nine villages in the Prizren district for Chilandar; in addition, the monastery was given two vineyards, four bee-farms, one mountain and 170 Vlach shepherds, together with some separate contributions of cattle and salt. Nemanja's son and successor on the Grand Zhupan's throne helped his father and brother to raise Chilandar as quickly as possible In this connection, the first abbot of Chilandar, Methodius (Metodije), visited Serbia in 1198.

The economic basis of Chilandar's existence in the Middle Ages was its landed property. From the nine villages and other gifts in the Prizren region bestowed on the monastery by Simeon Nemanja's founding charter in 1198, Chilandar's estates expanded during the 13th and 14th centuries into the largest complex of monastic holdings in medieval Serbia, stretching "from Thessalonica to north of Parachin". The precise size and economic potential of these estates have still not been studied, but they are known to have included huge areas of land in the Pech and Hvosno regions, in the Pomoravlje region (beside the River Morava), in the Thessalonica and Struma (Strymon) areas, and particularly on Chalcidice. By the beginning of the 15th century, Chilandar had over thirty metochia with 360 villages over which it exercised full feudal rights, "together with considerable judicial, administrative and financial privileges, so that it virtually constituted a state within a state" (R. Grujich). By the mid- 14th century, Chilandar possessed almost a fifth of the Athos peninsula alone, which means about 60 square kilometres.

The rich archives of Chilandar monastery, with 172 Greek, 154 Serbian and two Bulgarian charters from the Middle Ages (the Russian and Romanian charters are of later date), combined with other sources, make it possible to reconstruct in considerable detail the monastery's history in the 13th and 14th centuries, and its growth in spiritual, economic and political importance. Without exaggeration, Chilandar may be described as the centre of medieval Serbia's spiritual life and an important intermediary and representative in Serbia's relations with Byzantium. Without its intermediary role, it is inconceivable that Serbia would have adopted Byzantine civilization and the classical heritage. As it was, the elite of the Serbian Church, literature and theology passed through Chilandar. In the eyes of Byzantium, Chilandar was a lasting proof of Serbian legitimacy, recognized and confirmed by imperial chrysobulls. Enjoying the status of a Byzantine "imperial lavra", this rich and independent monastery was Serbia's best diplomatic mission in Byzantium.

Crna reka

2011-12-20T11:51:00.000+01:00

Crna Reka monastery is a hermitage in the midst of the south Serbian mountains situated in the gorge of the Black River. It is surrounded by high rocks and lush vegetation. It dates from 13th century when a small church dedicated to the Holy Archangel Michael was built in a big cave. Soon the monks hermits built their cells around the church and erected a small draw bridge over the dry bed of the Black River. By a great blessing og God the river disappears underground just in front of the monastery and reappears after several hundred meters of its underground flow and thus spares the monastery from the noise.

The greatest treasure of the monastery are the holy and incorruptible relics of St. Peter of Korisha, a famous Serbian ascetic from the 13th century. Even today numerous pilgrims come to the monastery to seek healing and spiritual consolation from this great miracle-worker. In the 15th century Crna Reka was home for a time to a famous hesychast St. Ioanichios, who with his monks later moved to the area of today's Devic monastery.

Crna Reka was deserted for a long time. It was only in 1979 that Fr. Artemy came to live there and gathered around himself a young brotherhood. After his election as bishop he took several monks and renewed other monasteries of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren. Today there are 18 brethren in the monastery who occupy themselves with prayer, icon painting and wood carving.

St. Nicolas monastery - Kursumlija

2011-12-19T13:14:00.000+01:00

Monastery of Saint Nicola in Kuršumlija is the first endowment of famous Stefan Nemanja, the founder of mighty Nemanjic Dynasty and of the Medieval Serbia. The Saint Nicolas Monastery is built in 1168 up the Toplica river in the northern part of town of Kursumlija.

Saint Nicolas Monastery is one-nave structure, remarkable for its brick walls executed in Byzantine style with a low eight-sided dome. The main church was built for the demands of Orthodox rituals in a way which was common to Byzantine architecture. The single nave church with its cupola, in the rhythmic plan of its parts, with vestibules on the sides which were a novelty in Raska, and in its internal structure - the cupola, the arches, the highly developed substructure - has everything which is characteristic of Byzantine architecture, including inner walls of mixed materials (crystalline calcium carbonate and bricks).

Externally it is done in the Romanesque style. In 1219 it became the seat of the Serbian Bishopric when the nartex with two towers were added /under influence of St. Tryphon Catherdal in Kotor finished in 1167 and like pillars-towers added on St. George's Church in Ras only few years later/. In the 14th century the small chapel was built on the southern side probably to be the final place of rest for the endower. Unfortunately the fresco decoration was lost over the course of the centuries. The Church of the Mother of God established in 1159 as the nunnery by Ana Dondolo, the wife of Stefan Nemanja is nowadays only a picturesque ruin bearing witness of good passed times.

Prohor Pčinjski

2011-12-18T11:59:00.000+01:00

The monastery is situated on the wooded slopes of the mountain of Kozjak on the left bank of the river Pčinje, close to the river of Klenike, 30 km south of Vranje. According to tradition it was built in the 11^th century by the Byzantine emperor Romanos IV Diogenes as a mark of gratitude to Saint Prohor who had prophesied that he would become emperor.

The original church, raised above the grave of this renowned saint and missionary, has been restored a number of times. One of the most far-reaching restorations was carried out by King Milutin who in 1316 or 1317 employed the Thessalonian artists Mihail and Eutychus to paint the new church. After the Battle of Kosovo, the monastery was demolished by the Turks and restored in 1489 by one Marin of Kratovo. The frescoes painted at this time are considered some of the most important artistic creations of their time. There was a painters’ studio in the monastery in the 16^th century, and the artists resident there created frescoes of great value in the chapel on the south side of the church.

The imposing multi-domed church now standing here was built in 1898 and incorporated the older structures. The apse houses the grave of St Prohor Pčinjski and the monastery charnel-house.

Two residential buildings (konak) dominate the imposing monastery complex, of which the so-called Vranjanski Konak, massive in size, is one of the most beautiful buildings of this type in Serbia. It was built between 1854 and 1862, a donation by Hadži-Mihailo Pogačarević, a merchant from Vranje.

The first plenary session of ASNOM (The Anti-Fascist Assembly of the National Liberation of Macedonia) was convened on August 2, 1944 in Prohor Pčinjski.

The monastery was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia.

Žiča

2011-12-17T14:28:00.000+01:00

Žiča is an early 13th century Serb Orthodox Monastery near Kraljevo, Serbia. The monastery, together with the Church of the Holy Dormition, was built by the first King of Serbia, Stefan the First-Crowned and the first Head of the Serbian church, Saint Sava.

Žiča was the seat of the Archbishop (1219–1253), and by tradition the coronational church of the Serbian kings, although a king could be crowned in any Serbian church, he was never considered a true king until he was anointed in Žiča.

Žiča was declared as Cultural Monument of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and it is protected by Serbia. In 2008, Žiča celebrated 800 years of existence.

The Serbs were intially under the jurisdiction of the Archbischopic of Ohrid, under the tutelage of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinopole.

Rastko Nemanjić, the son of Stefan Nemanja, ruled as Grand Prince of Hum 1190-1192, previously held by Grand Prince Miroslav. In the autumn of 1192 (or shortly thereafter) Rastko joins a Russian monks and travels to Mount Atos where he takes monastic vows and spends several years, in 1195 his father joined him, and together they founded the Hilandar, as the base of Serbian religion. His father dies in Hilandar on February 13, 1199, he is canonised, as Saint Simeon. Rastko built a church and cell at Karyes, where he stayed for some years, becoming a Hieromonk, then an Archimandrite in 1201. He writes the Karyes Typicon during his stay there.

He returns to Serbia in 1207, taking the remains of his father with him, which he relocates to the Studenica monastery, after reconcileing Stefan II with Vukan, who had earlier been in a successation feud (civil war). Stefan II asks him to remain in Serbia with his clerics, which he does, starting a widespread pastoral and educational duty to the people of Serbia. He founds several churches and monasteries, among them the Žiča monastery.

Archimandrite Rastko (future Saint Sava) brings the regal crown from Rome, crowning his older brother Stefan Prvovenčani "King of All Serbia" in the Žiča monastery in 1217. In 1219, the Serbian Church gains autocephaly, by Emperor Theodore I Laskaris and Patriarch Manuel I of Constantinopole, Sava becomes the first Archbishop. The monastery acts as the seat of the Archbishop of all Serbian lands.

In 1221, a synod was held in the monastery, condemning Bogomilism.

When Serbia was invaded by Hungary, Saint Sava sent Arsenije I Sremac to find a safer place in the south to establish a new episcopal See. In 1253 the see was transferred to the Archbishopric of Peć (future Patriarchate) by Arsenije. The Serbian primates had since moved between the two.

In 1289-1290, the chief treasures of the ruined monastery, including the remains of Sain Jevstatije I, were transferred to Peć.

Sometime between 1276-1292 the Cumans burned the monastery, and King Stefan Milutin renovated it in 1292-1309, during the office of Jevstatije II.

Patriarch Nikon joined Despot Đurađ Branković when the capital was moved to Smederevo, following Turkish-Hungarian wars in the territory of Serbia in the 1430s.

After the First Serbian Uprising, the Ottoman destroyed the monastery.

Studenica

2011-12-16T14:50:00.000+01:00

Studenica is the high point of Serbian history. The monastery contains the remains of the first Serbian kings, the remains, the shroud and the coffin of Stefan Prvovencani. This is where St Sava Nemanjic, the founder's youngest son, wrote the first literary work in the Serbian language and founded the Serbian Orthodox Church, which was separate from that of Byzantium.

The monastery is a veritable museum of 13th-century Byzantine painting (frescoes in the naos and the sanctuary of the Virgin Mary in 1208-9; frescoes of the southern chapel, in the same church, 1233-34; frescoes of St Nicholas, c. 1230) and 14th-century Byzantine painting (King's Church frescoes, just after 1314). Moreover, the monastery contains important and significant painted ensembles from the so-called post-Byzantine period and more than 100 precious objects in its treasury.

The monastery was built in the middle of a large clearing crossed by the Studenica River. It is surrounded by a circular wall roughly 115 m in diameter. Beyond the farmland are superb forests where broadleaved trees (oak, lime, elm, ash, beech and wild pear) and conifers (black and silver pines) grow on the slopes of three massifs which are 80% wooded. Here, in 1183, Stefan Nemanja founded the Great Joupan. He wanted to build a funerary church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. After abdicating in 1196 and withdrawing to become a monk on Mount Athos in 1197, his sons carried out his wish. The Church of the Virgin Mary was completed by Prince Vukan and his brothers who, in 1208-9, had it decorated with the paintings of Greek artists.

Studenica was the necropolis of the Nemanjic dynasty and over the centuries it developed into one of the focal points of Serbian history. The monastery grew larger within its walls, and refectories and the monks' living quarters were installed along the curve of the circular wall. As foundations increased, more sanctuaries were created in the central area. Some small constructions were clustered together to the south of the original church: St Nicholas (from c. 1240), St John and in the early 14th century, St Anne and St Joachim, the famous King's Church, completed in 1314. At the same time votive chapels, oratories and hermitages were built in the mountains outside the walls.

The two principal monuments of Studenica, the Church of the Virgin Mary and the King's Church, are both in a very satisfactory state of conservation. This is true of the brickwork and the wall construction in marble of the main church. The upper courses of this marble, which was drawn from nearby quarries, has acquired a beautiful golden patina, but the wonderful precision of the Romanesque sculptors responsible for the west and south gates and the great east window has not been obliterated by time.

The King's Church houses the most beautiful murals painted by Michael and Eutychios. Not long after 1314 they painted a cycle of the Life of the Virgin Mary which is among the leading works of Byzantine art. After having worked at the Peribleptos of Ohrid and painting a series of Serbian churches (those of the Virgin of Lievisa, of Zica, of Staro Nagoricino, of Gracanica, etc.) for King Milutin, these painters found the most perfect expression of their style in Studenica: density of forms and volumetric rendering of faces combined with astounding execution which, in terms of perfection, is very close to that of icons, with highlighting in bright colours, shadows and light executed a secco.

The primitive Church of the Virgin Mary served as a model for the churches of Rascie, which constitute a special branch of the great Orthodox family. This royal funeral church was imitated in Banjska, Decani and the Holy Archangels of Prizren. The murals of the naos and the sanctuary, made in 1208-9, are among the first examples of the 'monumental' style that emerged in various different regions after the capturing of Constantinople in 1205 by the Crusaders. These paintings, which are characterized by a new concept of space and a new expressiveness, are an essential milestone in the history not only of Byzantine art, but also of Western art. Cimabue, Duccio and Giotto were also part of this current.

Pećka patrijaršija

2011-12-15T16:16:00.000+01:00

Serbian archbishop Arsenije I (St. Sava's successor), erected the Church
of the Holy Apostles and transferred his seat to Pec (Metohija); the church
was painted in 1250. In the complex of the latter Patriarchate of Pec, northward,
also was built the adjacent Church of St. Demetrius, c. 1320, by Archbishop
Nikodim. His successor Danilo II, the famous Serbian writer, statesman,
even warrior, built yet another temple at the southern end of the Holy Archangels
and dedicated it to the Virgin Hodegetria. Somewhat later, he attached to
it the little Church of St. Nicholas. Along the fronts of the three mutually
adjacent churches, a monumental narthex with a tower in front of it was
erected also by Danilo II. In the time of archbishop Joanikije, 1345, the
Church of St. Demetrius was painted. In the course of the 14th c. repairs
were carried out in the Holy Apostles so that parts of the church were painted
later.

Hard times hit the complex during the early Turkish occupation. With
the restoration of the Serbian Patriarchate of Pec in 1557, the place
regained its focal spiritual and political role. In 1565 the narthex was
painted and iconostasis renovated. The frescoes were refreshed in 1620-21.
While patriarch Pajsije held the throne, the Holy Apostles were restored,
and in 1633-34. the western part repainted, for the old frescoes have
been seriously damaged. In the time of patriarch Maksim, in 1673-74. St.
Nicholas was painted. During the war between the Turks and Austrians,
in which the Serbs fought on the Christian side, the patriarchate was
badly damaged. The treasury was transported to Gracanica and hidden in
one of its domes, however the Turkish rebel and bandit Jeghen Pasa found
it and took it away in 1688: he needed nine horses to load it. In 1690
patriarch Arsenije III Carnojevic had to leave his throne before the Turkish
offensive spearheaded by the Tatar and Albanian irregulars, and flee to
safety in Belgrade. After the Turks took Belgrade, in October 1690, he
had to pass on the Hungarian side and withdraw, with about 30.000 Serbian
refugees, in Buda and St. Andrew, a small town near the Hungarian capital.
The Turks and Albanians plundered and desecrated the monastery, and also
many other Serbian sanctuaries. The Patriarchate was abandoned in another
war with the Turks, 1737-1739, when Patriarch Arsenije IV Jovanovic left
for Srem, taking along the monks and the valuables. Yet another demolition
the monastery suffered by the Aslan Pasa of Bosnia in 1831.

The Church of the Holy Apostles is the oldest church within the complex.
It had elaborately been planned by St Sava and built accordingly. The
oldest parts are its altar and sub-domical spaces, as well as the choirs.
Due to the later construction of the adjacent temples, the western end
has not retained the original look. The church was built in stone, plastered
and painted without. The frescoes date from different periods. The earliest,
in the altar and under the dome, date back to the mid-XIII c. Their topical
complexity indicates that Sava and Arsenije I had impact on their theological
contents. The frescoes on the south and west walls, probably commissioned
by King Milutin,
include the portraits of Stefan
the First Crowned and Uros
I. Two pilasters and the arc connecting the between the west and north
bays were presumably painted between 1350. and 1354. Shortly afterwards,
because some frescoes had decayed, the choir space was painted too. In
those years, the composition of patriarch Joanikije's Dormition was created
above his sarcophagus. C. 1620. Georgije Mitrofanovic portrayed Patriarch
Jovan in the niche of the west wall. Patriarch Pajsije partially financed
the renovation of the deteriorated frescoes in 1636. The Church houses
the relics and graves of three archbishops, Arsenije I, Joanikije II and
Sava II.

The Church of St Demetrius was founded by Archbishop Nikodim (1317-1324).
Not big in size, it has the form of a shortened cross with a spacious
dome. It was built in alternate courses of brick and stone. The entrance
is framed with a harmonious stone portal. Joanikije is to be credited
for the frescoes painted towards the middle of the 11th c. The were renovated
in early 17th c. They consist of valuable portraits of Emperor
Dusan, his son Uros V
and Patriarch Joanikije, and also a worthy composition of two Serbian
Councils on a vault in the western part. The church houses the relics
of patriarchs Jefrem and Sava IV.

The Church of the Virgin Hodegetria was built next to the southern side
of the Holy Apostles, c. 1300. It was commissioned by Danilo II, to counterpart
the church of St Demetrius. The ground plan has the form of a floral cross
with an octagonal dome borne by four free standing pillars. The temple
is partioned into three longitudinal spaces. Its two-light windows on
the east and south facades have certain Gothic elements. The church was
painted in 1330s. The founder composition on the west wall testifies to
the fact that Danilo II had commissioned those works as well.

The narthex was erected by Archbishop Danilo II in early 1330s, as an
ante-church to the three adjacent temples. As first, it was open to three
sides, and inside, due to the large span, there used to be five buttresses
to carry the whole mass. Since the narthex had gradually deteriorated
and became insecure, the arched openings were walled up within the restoration
in 1560s. Little has been preserved of the original frescoes that had
adorned the whole narthex in the time of Danilo II. Noteworthy is the
genealogy of the Nemanjic Dynasty beginning with Nemanja and ending with
King Dusan. Among the individual figures, the representation of the Breast-feeding
Mother of God stands out. The facade of the narthex used to be painted,
too. Before 1375, above his stone throne, St. Sava was painted on a pilaster
in the doorway of the Holy Apostles, but signed as a patriarch instead
of an archbishop which his actual rank. Other frescoes on the vaults were
painted in 1565, after the renewal of the Patriarchate, commissioned by
the Patriarch Makarije Sokolovic, 365 figures illustrating each day of
the Calendar. The painters employed included monk Longin, the most famous
Serbian painter of the latter half of the 16th c.

The Church of St Nicholas is a little church, also founded by Archbishop
Danilo II. It is a single nave building with a tripartite apse, of brick
and stone. The tunnel vault is strengthened by an arch resting on two
pilasters. The original frescoes have not survived. The latter painting
of the church, in 1673, had been commisioned by patriarch Makarije. The
frescoes were created by Radul, the most famous Serbian painter of the
late 17th c. The founders composition on the south wall shows St Nicholas
taking Patriarch Makarije to Jesus Christ. On the north wall there are
the portraits of the Serbian saints Simon Nemanja and Sava, as well as
archbishops Arsenije I and Danilo I.
The whole Patriarchate of Pec used to be girdled with a wall strengthened
with five towers, one of the donjon additionally fortified. Of some monastic
facilities, only foundations have survived. The residence at the back
of the churchyard were set on fire by Albanian terrorists in 1981; they
were restored in 1983. The new residence in the northeastern part of the
yard was completed in 1991.

After the Bishoprics of the Serbian Orthodox Church united in 1920,
metropolitan Dimitrije was enthroned in Pec as the first Patriarch, after
1766, of the renewed Serbian Patriarchate. Ever since, all the elected
patriarchs have been enthroned ceremonially in this monastery. The Patriarchate
of Pech is a monastery under the administration of the Patriarch himself,
and exempted from the jurisdiction of the regional bishopric.

Mileševa - Milesheva monastery

2011-12-14T15:26:00.000+01:00

The Mileševa monastery was founded between 1234 and 1236 by Serbian King Vladislav. The monastery is situated in a valley of the Mileševa river, near Prijepolje. Mileševa is one of the most important Serbian sanctuaries and spiritual centers. In 1236, Vladislav moved the relics of his uncle Saint Sava from Trnovo in Bulgaria, where he died, to Mileševa. Some historians believe that the coronation of King Tvrtko I of Bosnia took place in Mileševa. In the fifteenth century, the monastery was the seat of the Metrpolitanate of Dabar-Bosnia. In 1459, the Turks set the monastery on fire, but it was soon restored. In the first half of the sixteenth century, the first service books were illuminated in Mileševa. One of the oldest schools also existed in the monastery. In the middle of the century, during the time of Patriarch Makarije (the Serbian Patriarchate was restored in 1557), the monastery was thoroughly renovated. Its external narthex was built and painted, and probably cut through the wall between the narthex and the nave. In later times, after several Turkish demolitions, a new restoration was undertaken in 1863, when the church considerably changed in appearance.

The Mileševa monastery has been visited by pilgrims and donated to by Russian Emperors (Ivan IV the Terrible) and Valachian and Moldavian rulers. In 1594, the Turks removed the relics of St.Sava from the monastery and publicly burned them on Vračar hill in Belgrade, making him thus a posthumous martyr.

The Church, dedicated to the Ascension of Our Lord, architecturally belongs to the Rashka School. Its ground plan is unique. Its single nave widens from the west eastward, so that the eastern bay is omitted completely, which results in the three altar apses leaning directly on the domed east wall. Inside, the dome is raised on several arches in a stairway-like arrangement. The narthex was added in 1236 upon which, during a nineteenth century restoration, a dome was constructed on top.

The first group of frescoes were produced in the 1230s. The other groups include works from the Turkish period, to be found in the exonarthex. These thirteenth century frescoes may be considered to be the supreme achievement of all the painting in Europe of that time. The portraiture deals with bishops (altar space), warrior saints and martyrs (nave), as well as monks (nartex). The upper registers in the narthex represent Christ's earthly life. Below the resurrection composition on the south wall of the west bay, King Vladislav is depicted as being led to Christ by the Mother of God. The Nemanjić family is portrayed in the northeastern part of the narthex: Stefan Nemanja as the monk Simeon, Sava as the first arcbishop, Stefan the First-Crowned as king, and his sons Radoslav and Vladislav. The frescoes in the narthex and the adjacent chapel were presumably painted in the 1230s and 1240s. They illustrate the last Judgment and the lives of some saints. In the second half of the sixteenth century, the church was repainted with a new layer of frescoes of which only fragments of the Last Supper under the dome and the Forty Martyrs in the north choir have survived. These frescoes were damaged in a fire, but they happened to save (acting as a protective layer) the earlier and more valuable paintings from the thirteenth century.

Mileševa was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia.

Manasija

2011-12-13T10:44:00.000+01:00

Manasija, also known as Resava, is a Serb orthodox monastery near Despotovac, Serbia, founded by Despot Stefan Lazarević between 1406 and 1418. The church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It is one of the most significant monuments of medieval Serbian culture and it belongs to the "Morava school". The monastery is surrounded by massive walls and towers. Immediately following its foundation, the monastery became the cultural centre of the Serbian Despotate. Its Resava school was well known for its manuscripts and translations throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, even after the fall of the Despotate to the Ottoman Turks. Manasija complex was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia, and monastery have entered a UNESCO Tentative List Process in 2010. Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance.

Monastery founder Despot Stefan built Manasija to serve as his mausoleum; in its grandeur, his resting place surpassed everything ever built in the Pomoravlje. The monumental and imposing Church of Manasija, together with the contemporary monuments (Ravanica, Ljubostinja, Kalenić, Gornjak, Pavlica…), bear witness to the last great artistic achievement of Morava's Serbia.

The refectory was built parallel to the church, and is one of the largest known structures in medieval Serbia, which was completely covered in frescoes. The monastery compound was encircled and protected by strong walls with eleven towers and trenches.

The monastery complex consists of:

The church to the Holy Trinity
The refectory, placed to the south of the church
The fortress with 11 towers, the largest of which is the keep, also known as the Despot's Tower (to the north of the church)

     The Church of Manasija Monastery was consecrated on the feast of Pentecost /Whitsun/ in 1418, after about 2,000 square metres of frescoes had been painted. Only a quarter of the paintings survived, but even these are among the most beautiful in the outstandingly rich treasure of old Serbian painting. History records that Despot Stefan invested great effort in finding the "most honoured and skillful workers, the most experienced icon painters".
     During the five centuries of Ottoman rule, the monastery was abandoned and wrecked several times. The lead roof was removed from the church, and so for over a century the frescoes inside were subject to damage by rainfall. As a result, about two-thirds of them were irremediably lost. In the 18th century, the western part of the church - the nartex - was heavily damaged in an explosion and was later rebuilt. The mosaic floor of that part of the church was fortunately preserved.

     Architecturally, the church belongs to the Morava school. The ground plan is in the form of a floral inscribed cross, combined with a trefoil. The twelwe-side dome above the central space rests on four free standing pillars. At the eastern end there are one large and two small apses, whereas two large choir conches flank the altar. Above the corners of the church there are four little octagonal domes. The narthex consists of nine bays. Above the central bay there is yet another dome that rests on four pillars. The church was built on ashlars and thin mortar beds. The facade decoration includes low pilasters, engaged colonettes on the conches and apses, as well as a frieze of small blind arcades on brackets running below the roof cornice.

     In the inside, the original floor has been preserved in the narthex, made of marble tiles in various colors. Nearly half of the frescoes have been destroyed. Despot Stefan is portrayed with the church model on the left-hand wall. The lower register of the north choir depicts warrior-saints in armor with swords and lances, as an authentic representation of contemporaneous soldiers. The vault above the main door contains a picture of the Souls of the Righteous held by the Divine hand. On the left and right, the prophets David and Solomon are portrayed respectively. There are also 24 portraits of the Old Testament prophets and patriarchs in the spacious dome. Two compositions cover the whole first and second registers in the altar: the first represents the Adoration of the Lamb, the other the Communion of Apostles.

     The Monastery fortress, made up to defend the monastery, consists of 11 towers linked with huge walls and once, with trenches. The towers are mostly rectangular, save two hexagonal ones and one square-shaped.

     An archaeological team from the UK led by Marin Brmbolić located the remains of a person whom some claim to be Despotes Stefan Lazarević in the southwestern part of the monastery floor. DNA comparison with the remains of his father, Knez Lazar, confirmed that the remains belong to two closely related individuals. However, there is no doubt that Stefan's brother Vuk was buried in Manasija and the remains could as well easily be his. The Serbian Orthodox Church has already officially proclaimed the remains in the Koporin monastery, a smaller legacy of his, as those of Despotes Stefan.

Ljubostinja

2011-12-12T19:17:00.000+01:00

Ljubostinja is a Serb Orthodox monastery near Trstenik, Serbia. It was founded by Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović in 1388, just before the Battle of Kosovo.
Architecturally, the church, dedicated to the Dormition of the Holy Virgin, belongs to the Morava School. Its ground plan has the form of a trefoil with a dome resting of four free-standing pillars. It is extended westward into a rectangular narthex with a blind calotte. The facade is embellished with rich muling that edge the doors and windows. A horizontal cordon cornice divides the walls into two zones: in the lower one, there are lancet and two-light windows, and the upper zone is ornamented with rose and wheel windows of unequal size with floral and geometrical patterns. In the threshold stone of the doorway between the narthex and the nave, the name of the "Protomaster Borovic Rade", the famous master-builder, is chiseled.

The church was painted just before the Kosovo battle. The original frescoes have survived only on pendetives, in the lower register of the drum and partially elsewhere. Especially interesting are the representations of the Old Testament prophets who vouch for the emergence of Christ. Invited by princess Milica, painter Makarije of Zrze came to Ljubostinja in 1403, and carried out all the frescoes in the church. He repainted the frescoes in the dome, only ten years old, and wrote out his name on the arch above the door between the narthex and the nave. The family of Prince Lazar is portrayed on the west wall of the narthex: Lazar and Milica are on one side, and Despot Stefan and his brother Lord Vuk on the other. They are all depicted in their full arrays, with all the insignia of power and dignity. Unfortunately, little has remained of once vast painted area of Ljubostinja. In the nave, only the Annunciation unit of the whole Festival Cycle has survived. The four best-preserved compositions represent Christ's miracles and sermons: the Healing of the weakened man and the Anointment in Bethlehem above the south-choir door. The three major features of the Ljubostinja frescoes are expressive figures, strong contrast of light and dark, and architectural motifs in the background.

The legends says that the monastery was built on a site where Princess Milica met Prince Lazar for the first time; and that had happened on the day of St Archdeacon Stefan to whom the earlier chapel on the same place had been dedicated. The construction of this foundation of Princess Milica and Prince Lazar started in 1388-89. After the battle of Kosovo, when Lazar was killed, Milica became a nun, as many widows of the Serbian soldiers did the same.

In the church of the monastery Ljubostinja are the graves of Princess Milica and the first Serbian poet, nun Jefimija, widow of Despot Ugljesa. Jefimija is the first Serbian poetess, who is wrote the greatest poetry of the medieval Serbian literature range, praise / prayer of Prince Lazar and with gold thread on silk embroidered cover for life Prince Lazar / priceless, which is now in the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade.

Ljubostinja was declared Monument of Culture of Exsceptional Importance in 1979, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia.

Kalenić - Kalenic monastery

2011-12-12T12:42:00.000+01:00

The Kalenic monastery is a foundation of protovestiar (high Byzantine title) Bogdan, his wife Milica, and his brother Peter. The church, dedicated to the Presentation of the Holy Virgin, was built and painted between 1407 and 1413. After repeated Turkish assaults it was abandoned in the late 17th century. The monastery was restored in 1766, but during the rebellion against the Turks, in which the Kalenic monks took part, 1788-1791, the monastery was burnt. The monks came back towards the end of the century. The new narthex was erected in 1806.

The Kalenic church was built in alternate courses of stone blocks and bricks joined with thick layers of mortar. The facade is segmented vertically by pilasters and engaged colonnettes, and horizontally with two cordon cornices around the whole church. Two-light windows are in the zone between the two cornices, while the upper zone contains arches, twisted colonnettes and rosettes. Above, there are the arches of the dome's pedestal, rosettes, and checkering. Architecturally, the ground plan of the church has the form of a trefoil with an apse at the eastern end and a narthex facing west. The central dome crowns the middle part of the nave, whereas the blind dome is above the narthex.

Particularly valuable are the carved decoration on the portals, windows and facade, typical of the so-called Morava school of Serbian art. The major moulding patterns include two-wired cable, stylized lilies and palmettes, and also human and animal figures. The most striking piece is the representation of the Virgin with Christ flanked with two seraphims in the lunette above the south-side two-light window.

Concerning the fresco painting, the north wall of the narthex contains the founders' composition; below is the portrait of despot Stefan Lazarevic. Especially significant, even peculiar, is a cycle of scenes from the life of the Holy Virgin taking all four walls of the narthex, in three registers. Only some of the units of the Festival Cycle, in the highest register, have survived, as the Annunciation, a fragment of the Nativity, Candlemas, the Ascension, the Harrowing of the Hell and a part of the Dormition oh the Mother of God. As to the choir apse, there stand out the figures of the warrior saints. As usual, the altar space is adorned with the Communion of the Apostles and the procession of the Church Fathers.

Đurđevi stupovi - The Tracts of Saint George

2011-12-11T21:17:00.000+01:00

Đurđevi stupovi (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђурђеви cтупови) (English: The Tracts of Saint George, often incorrectly translated as The Pillars of Saint George) is a 12th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery located in the vicinity of today's city of Novi Pazar, in the Raška region of Serbia. The church was erected by the Grand Prince of Rascia, Stefan Nemanja, back in 1166, on the spot where the Serbian medieval capital of Ras once stood. It is currently undergoing reconstruction and renovation. Đurđevi stupovi was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and monastery have entered a UNESCO World Heritage list also in 1979 together with the complex of Stari Ras and Sopoćani.

The monastery was built by Grand Zupan Stefan Nemanja in the first years after coming to the throne of the Grand Zupan (the construction is finished 1171st), and the church was painted around the 1175th.

By writing of biographer of Stefan Nemanja, Stefan the First Crowned, his son, the monastery was founded by Nemanja, while he was imprisoned in a cave, vowed to build a monastery dedicated to St. George.

Another ktitor of the monastery was King Dragutin who is build the monastery church narthex and painted her. He is from Srem, where he lived, was transferred to the monastery of St. George and buried in the 1316th year.

The Tracts of Saint George was built in a style characteristic as a unique synthesis of two architectural concepts of the Middle Ages, Byzantine architecture in the East and Roman architecture in the West. Church of St. George has an important role in the formation of this architecture, known as the Raska school, which starts as a building's architecture, creative epoch in medieval Serbia.

The Tracts of St. George has many buildings with architectural innovation in the construction of the time. These include the characteristic towers - tracts, side vestibule, elliptical dome, irregular shape of the altar area and the specific solution of the central space of the church.

Visoki Dečani

2011-12-11T12:38:00.000+01:00

One of the jewels of the Serbian medieval civilization, the monastery Visoki Decani (High Decani) is located at the foot of the Prokletije Mountains, in the valley of the river Bistrica. The construction of the church, dedicated to Christ the Pantocrator started in 1327. as the foundation of King Stefan Uros III Nemanjic, later called Decanski. The architect was Vita, a friar from Kotor, while the "building and fortifying" of the church were supervised by Archbishop Danilo II. In 1330. King Stefan issued his famous founding charter, signed in gold, giving to the monastery rich properties. After Stefan's death the construction was continued by his son Dusan, who completed the monastery in 1335. An adjacent hospital was built too. The alongside building works were done by protomaster George and his brothers. Painting started soon after finishing the building and lasted until 1350.
The Decani church is one of the largest Serbian medieval edifices. Its leght exceeds 36 meters, the width is 24, and the dome reaches the height of 29 m. At the eastern end of the central space there is a large apse, whereas two small ones belong to the prosthesis and diaconicon respectively. There are five naves, the middle one being the widest and domed with the support of four piers. The aisles have their own parecclesions with the apses eastward. The narthex is tripartite, somewhat lower and narrower than the nave. Each nave has three bays. The ribbed vaults rest not only on pilasters but also on four octagonal piers made of marble in the middle of the narthex. The church was built on marble slabs in three colors. Its sophisticated architecture harmoniously blends the western, Romanesque and Gothic movements with the eastern, Byzantine style, keeping the tradition of the Serbian arts.

In the Church of Christ Pantocrator is found the most ornate and best preserved sculpture in the Romanesque spirit, in the whole Serbian medieval art. The west portal shows the temple's patron Jesus Christ on the throne and with two angels. The lunette over the southern portal represents the baptism of Christ and contains a carved inscription about the monastery's foundation. Above the north portal there is a foliation in the form of a cross. The jambs and the capitals of the adjacent engaged columns on all portals have floral ornaments, while the north and west ones also have carvings on the shape of centaurs and dragons. Over the west portal, there are also free-standing sculptures of lions and gryphons. The handsome two-light and three-light windows add to the overall effect of luxurious ornamentation.

The painting works took fifteen years and was carried out by several groups of the best Serbian artists. The altar space has the common representations of the Adoration of the Lamb and the Communion of Apostles. Apart from the conventional scenes, several series of paintings in the nave illustrate the history of Christianity. The heigher registers of the subatomic space represent the Festival Cycle, whereas the lower ground-lines contain svenes from the life of Christ, his miracles, morals and the Passion. Follow the scenes from the Virgin's life and her Akathistos Hymn. A separate row of frescoes is devoted to St. John the Forerunner, St. Demetrius and St. Nicholas. Moreover, there are illustrations of the Acts of the Apostles and the Old Testament themes. On the vaults of the narthex the Seven Ecumenical Councils are painted. The west wall there depicts the Genealogy of the Nemanjic family, beginning with saintly Stefan Nemanja. The rest of the Decani narthex is mostly illustrated by the scenes that follow the Calendar. The founders and the members of their families have been portrayed on several places, so has Chancellor George, the one to be thanked for the frescoes in the narthex. There are five portraits of Emperor Dusan and four of Stefan Decanski. In terms of the total area painted and the number of scenes and figures depicted, Decani certainly leads among the fresco-painted entities of the medieval Serbian arts. Since the artists were many, one can see unevenness in style and artistic quality.

The treasury of the Decani monastery is the best-preserved one within the Serbian cultural heritage in terms of number of items, artistic achievements and historical endurance. There is also one whole gallery of icons dating back to the XIVth to XIXth century.

Sopoćani

2011-12-11T12:32:00.000+01:00

The Sopoćani monastery, an endowment of King Stefan Uroš I of Serbia, was built in the second half of the 13th century, near the source of the Raška river in the region of Ras, the centre of the Serbian medieval. It is World Heritage Site, added in 1979 with Stari Ras. The church was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and completed around 1265, with interior decorated shortly thereafter. Archbishop Sava II, who became the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1263, is represented in the procession of archbishops in the area of the altar. The frescoes of Sopoćani are considered by some experts on Serbian medieval art as the most beautiful of that period. On the western wall of the nave is a famous fresco of the Dormition of the Virgin. In the 16th century the monks had to temporarily leave the monastery on several occasions due to the Ottoman threat. Finally, during one of the raids in 1689 the Ottoman Turks set fire to the monastery and carried off the lead from the church roof. The brotherhood escaped with some important relics to Kosovo - but did not return to Sopoćani; it remained deserted for over two hundred years, until the 20th century. The church slowly decayed: its vaults caved in, its dome fell down, and the remains of the surrounding buildings were covered with rubble and earth.

Finally, during the 20th century the monastery was restored and today it is settled by a thriving brotherhood of dedicated monks. The fact that most of the Sopoćani frescoes still shine with radiant beauty - surviving more than two centuries of extreme exposure to the elements - many consider nothing less than a divine miracle.
Sopoćani was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia.

Gračananica

2011-12-11T12:19:00.000+01:00

Gračanica is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in Kosovo i Metohija. It was founded by the Serbian king Stefan Milutin in 1321. Gračanica Monastery was declared Monument of Culture of Exsceptional Importance in 1990, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia, and on 13 July 2006 it was placed on UNESCO's World Heritage List under the name of Medieval Monuments of Kosovo as an extension of the Visoki Dečani site which was overall placed on the List of World Heritadge in Danger.
The Gračanica Monastery is one of King Milutin's last monumental endowments. It is situated in the village of Gračanica, a Serb Enclave 5km from Pristina The monastery is in the close vicinity of Lipljan (ancient Roman town of Ulpiana), the old residence of bishops.
Gračanica was constructed on the ruins of an older 13th century church of the Holy Virgin, which was built on the ruins of a 6th century early Christian three-naved basilica. On the southern wall of the chapel is written the king's charter, including the following words: "I have seen the ruins and the decay of the Holy Virgin's temple of Gračanica, the bishopric of Lipljan, so I have built it from the ground and painted and decorated it both from inside and outside". Of the former monastic compound, only the church has survived. The nartex and the tower were added a few decades later, in order to protect the frescoes on the west facade. The narthex was heavily damaged by the Turks several times between 1379–1383, when the tower was burned and the fire devoured a rich collection of manuscripts and other precious objects. The narthex was reconstructed in 1383. Again, Gračanica suffered damages at the time of the Battle of Kosovo (1389).

During Ottoman rule Gračanica became an important cultural center. In the time of Metrpolitan Nikanor (1528–1555) several icons were painted on the altarpiece. Also, because of the printing press, Nikanor obtained numerous service books and objects for the monastic use. The royal doors were commissioned in 1564 by Metropolitan Dionisije, whose death is represented on a fresco in the narthex. Major restoration took place through efforts of Patriarch Makarije Sokilović. All the openings on the external narthex were walled up and new frescoes were completed in 1570. Thanks to Patriarch Pajsije, the church got its leaden roofing, and in 1620 the large cross with the Crucifix was made on the iconostasis. The monastery was exposed to new damages toward the end of the 17th century, in the War betwen Holy League and the Turks, after the second siege of Vienna - in which the Serbs took part on the Christian side. Turks removed the leaden cross and pulled out the floor tiles, together with the treasure hidden in the church by Patriarch Arsenije III.
After the Second World War it was renewed by nuns and has been serving as a convent since. Today there are 24 sisters in the monastery who are active in icon painting, agriculture, sewing and other monastic obediences.
After the Kosovo war of 1999 Bishop of Raška and Prizren Artemije transferred his official seat to this Monastery from Prizren and since then the monastery has become not only the most important spiritual but also the national and political center of the Serbian people in Kosovo.

Gračanica represents the culmination of the Serbian medieval art of building in the Byzantine tradition. The church has the form of a double inscribed cross, one inside the other, the inner one providing for a vertical silhouette so as to raise the central dome upwards on a graded elaboration of masses. The dome rests on four free-standing pillars. Above the spaces between the cross-shafts, four smaller domes give a regular structure to the whole crowning complex. Three three-sided apses (the central one being the largest) put a mild distinction on the altar space externally. The diaconicon and the prosthesis are separated by full walls. Between the nave and the nartex there are wide, heavy pillars and the catholicon is on a level higher. The church was built in alternate courses of brick and stone. At the end of the 14th century an exonartex was added with double arcades, but these were blinded in the 16th century.

In the church three kinds of painting can be discerned. The earliest is found in the nave, whereas two later ones can be recognized in the nartex. The frescoes were painted in 1321–1322. The painting works have been well-preserved. The compositions in the nave deal with the earthly life of Jesus and the ecclestical calendar.
The focal paintings of Gračanica include the Festival Cycle, the Passion and the miracles of Christ. Inside the narthex, there are portraits of the founders: King Milutin and Queen Simonida, Queen Hélène d'Anjou (king's mother) as a nun and King Milutin as a monk. Of particular importance is the Nemanjić dynasty genealogy, the first ever painted, which starts with Stefan Nemanja and ends with Milutin. Also in the narthex, there is an exhaustive illustration of the Last Judgment. The scenes from the life of St. Nicholas are in the north parecclesion, while the walls of the south one display scenes from the Old Testament and the lives of Christ and the Mother of God. The master painters supposedly were Michael and Eutihije with their assistants.
There are also considerable frescoes from 1570 in the exonarthex, commissioned by Patriarch Makarije Sokolović. There are some paintings in the narthex that date back to the late 14th and early 15th centuries, including the Baptism of Jesus, parts of the Virgin's Acathistus Hymns and the Ecumenical Councils. Two subjects, however, dominate the narthex of Gračanica: the Doxology to the Holy Virgin and the procession of the Serbian archbishops from Saint Sava to Patriarch Makarije Sokolović. A historical composition of the death of the Metropolitan of Gračanica Dionisije covers the southeastern part of the narthex.
The paintings of Gračanica rank highest among the achievements of Milutin's period, characterized by influences of the Byzantine splendiferous and luxurious style called the Paleologan Renaissance. In terms of style, they are also related to the art of the other of Milutin's foundations.