Serbian Orthodox Monasteries photos

[serbian army]

Eight Centuries of Serbian Hilandar Monastery

Eight centuries ago, Byzantium Emperor Aleksei III gave a hrisovulja (an act or declaration) which grants Monastery Hilandar and the region around the monastery to be an "eternal present to the Serbs".  He gave the act to St. Sava and his father St. Simeon (Stevan Nemanja).  From this moment, Hilandar Monastery was for centuries to come, home to Serbs, Serbian religion and culture.

Many Serbian kings contributed to the enlargement and extension of the Hilandar.  The Monastery Hilandar is located at the Aegean Sea in Greece, in the peninsula Mont. Athos.  Through the past eight centuries, the Hilandar Monastery was the inspiration and enlightenment for the Serbian people.

Hilandar reaches its blooming during the period of the Nemanjiches.  The number of monks was steadily increasing.  On the Holy Mount, in those sacred times, thousand of monks were gathering and transmitting their knowledge, living heroic lives.  Almost all our writers from the Middle Ages from St. Sava to Constantine the Philosopher, came out of the Hilandar school.

Many Serbian rulers from the Middle Ages carved their souls into the holy Hilandar walls.  The King Milutin built the new cathedral, around 1300, on the spot of an old one, decorating it with frescoes, and dedicating it to the Presentation of the Holy Virgin.  Milutin's example followed by czar Dusan, by his building and fortifying of the monastery.  In the 14th century, the holiest of all Serbians dukes - Lazar, has built another vestibule in front of the cathedral.  During the past centuries, twelve more of this small churches - chapels were built.  The lodging shelters were built and reconstructed, the dining room was renewed, water-tanks were rebuilt, the kitchen as well, and the entrance into the monastery. 

Hilandar acquired its today's shape at the beginning of the 19th century.  Hilandar's old garments are today being redecorated with fast speed.

 

A Never-Ending Prayer

"The Holy Mount is an empire with no crown, a state with no army, a country with no women, a fortune with no money, wisdom with no books, a kitchen with no meat, a never-eating prayer, a never-ending link with the heavens, on Ode to never-tiring Christ, death with no mourning."

Nikolai Velimirovich, the Episcope











Iconostasis of the main church, executed in c. 1774. It forms an integral part of the church interior, together with the richly carved furniture. The interior reflects western influences which reached Athos during the 17th and 18th centuries.
 


The miracle-working icon of the Virgin Troyeruchitsa was cherished on the courts of all the rulers of the Nemanyich dynasty. In the late 14th century it was transferred from the court of the Tzar Dushan the Mighty to the monastery Studenica. In the early 15th century, Studenica became the target of the Turkish invaders. Advised that the Turks were  approaching the monastery, the monks quickly took out all of the valuable objects. They tied the icon of the Virgin Troyerichitsa to the pack-saddle of a donkey, and let it go wherever the Virgin led him. The donkey passed through Serbia and Macedonia, to arrive to Mount Athos. It stopped in the vicinity of Chilandar. Seeing the donkey and understanding what was going on, the monks from the monastery hurried to  meet it. When they took the icon off the donkey, the animal dropped dead.
At the end of the 15th century, Chilandar had a problem regarding election of the new abbot. Numerous monks of Serbian, Russian, Greek and Bulgarian origin could not come to a decision. Then, during an evening service, the voice of the Holy Virgin was clearly heard coming from the icon, saying that she was their abbess. The next morning, during the morning service, the icon was found on the abbatial throne.
Thinking that it was a trick, the monks returned it to the altar. But the same thing repeated the next day. The monks understood then that they should not continue with the election or move the icon from the abbatial throne. Thus the Virgin Troyeruchitsa became the abbess and patron of Chilandar. In the year 1905, at the request of the Headquarters of the Russian Tzar Army, then at war with Japan, a copy of the icon Troyeruchitsa was made and sent to the battlefield, to help the Orthodox Russian army. The Russians indeed started to win the battles. After the peace was signed between the two empires, the copy of the icon was returned to Chilandar.
In the 90s of the 20th century, the magnificent copy of the Virgin Troyerchitsa arrived to Serbia. It is displayed in the Temple of St. Sava, on the Vrachar plateau, on a special proskynetarion in the nave, next to the abbatial throne. There is an ever-burning big sanctuary lamp in front of the icon, the oil of which has already healed many a sick person. The icon of the Virgin Troyeruchitsa is the first Athonite relic which has been taken out of the Holy Mountain, against the canonical rules. In 1993 it was displayed in the church of St. Demetrios in Salonika, and was visited by more than a million of believers. It performed another of its many miracles there, giving sight to a 33-year-old man who had been blind ever since his birth.
 

THE MIRACLE-WORKING ICON, THE VIRGIN NOT-BURNING-IN-FIRE
The icon of the Virgin Not-Burning-in-Fire remained, as its name suggests, untouched in a great fire. The premises where she stood were burnt to the ground. The sooty icon was taken out of the ashes and put into the altar area of the Chilandar katholikon, where it still stands.

[serbian army]

Visoki Decani Monastery is situated in the western part of the UN administered Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohia. It was built between 1327 and 1335 by the Serbian medieval king St. Stephen of Decani and was dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord. The monastery is settled in the picturesque valley of the Bistrica river surrounded by the mountains and forests of the Prokletije mountain range It is the largest and best preserved medieval monastery in Serbia. During its turbulent history the Monastery was an important spiritual centre with developed artistic and intellectual activities. Although the monastery buildings suffered damage from the Turkish occupation, the church has been completely preserved with beautiful 14th century fresco paintings. Today a young brotherhood of 30 brethren lives in the monastery continuing the centuries old tradition of the past. The brotherhood has developed various activities: wood carving, icon painting, book publishing and is also active in the missionary work. The beautiful monastic services are served according to the typicon of Mount Athos.





The Monks during the holy service in the church



Concelebration with the Bishop



Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro during the Holy Liturgy



The first morning rays during the holy service



Sunday Liturgy with the children from Velika Hoca, Oct 2001



Lighting the chandelier



Early morning liturgy

[serbian army]

Monastery Studenica, 12th century

 The monastery Studenica, dedicated to the Presentation of the Holy Virgin, is the mother-church of all Serbian temples. It was constructed over a quite long period. The first stage works were completed by the spring of 1196, when Stefan Nemanja abandoned his throne and settled in the monastery's foundation. When he later left for Hilandar, his son and successor Stefan took over the care of Studenica. Nemanja died in Hilandar in 1299. Nemanja's third son Sava, after reconciling his brothers Stefan and Vukan, moved Stefan's relics to Studenica. Under guardianship of Sava, Studenica became the political, cultural and spiritual center of medieval Serbia. Among his other endeavors, Sava composed a Typik, the rule-book where he described St. Simon's life, leaving evidence of the spiritual and monastic life of his time.
Studenica enjoyed continual care by the members of the Nemanjic dynasty. King Radoslav added to the church a splendid narthex in 1235. King Milutin built a small but lovely church dedicated to saints Joachim and Anna.

Since the fall of the last of the medieval Serbian states in 1459, the Turks often assaulted the monastery. The first of the significant restorations of the damage took place in 1569, when the frescoes in the Church of the Presentation were repainted. In the early seventeenth century, an earthquake and a fire befell the monastery, and historical documents and a significant part of the artistic heritage were destroyed and lost forever.

The Virgin's Church is a domed single-nave basilica. At its eastern end there is a three-sided apse, while an extended narthex faces west; there are also vestibules on the north and the south. In the 1230s, a large exonarthex was added. The facades were built with slabs of white marble; inside, the church is revetted with tufa blocks. Externally, the Church harmoniously reconciles two architectural styles, the Romanesque and the Byzantine. The blending of these two styles eventually produced a particular style of architecture known as the Raska School.

The artistic achievements of the sculpture of Studentica culminate in four portals, primarily the west one, inside between the narthex and the exonarthex. On the north wall under the dome, there is a window made of many square panes with medallions carved on a leaden plaque which represent eight fantastic animals - the symbols of the Virgin's virtues. There are also two rosettes denoting the Divine Eye. The masons came to Studenica most probably from the Adriatic region, perhaps from Kotor, where Nemanja used to have a palace. They left an insciption in Serbian lettering on the tympanum of the west portal.

The church was painted in the first decade of the thirteenth century. The original frescoes have been partly preserved in the altar area, under the dome, on the west wall, and in the lower registers of the nave. The most splendid representation is that of the Crucifixion, painted on blue background in 1209, one of the paramount achievements in Serbian art. On the south wall there is the "founders' composition" which shows the Virgin taking Nemanja-Simon with the church model to Jesus Christ as the Magistrate Impartial.

The narthex was painted in 1569. Those frescoes include an exquisite representation of the Last Judgment in the upper registers, and the portrait of Nemanja's wife Ana as the nun Anastasija.

The earliest fresco painting in Studenica marks the supreme achievement of Byzantine art in the region. The frescoes in Radoslav's narthex and the pareclesions originate from the 1230s and display a close relation to the painting style of the main church. The north chapel, dedicated to St. Nicholas, contains a composition of the Hetimasia and a cycle dealing with the life of St. Nicholas. In the south chapel one finds the portraits of Nemanja, Stefan the First Crowned and King Radoslav with his wife Ana. On the north wall of the narthex, three dignitaries of the Serbian church are portrayed - the archbishops Sava, Arsenije and Sava II (Radoslav's brother).

Northward from the Studenica refectory is the eighteenth century monastic residence, now housing a museum and displaying a number of the precious exhibits from the Studenica treasury. However, the frequent wars and plunders have considerably reduced the richest depository of Serbian spiritual life and culture in general.

Northwest of the Church of the Virgin there is the church of saints Joachim and Ann, known after its founder King Milutin as the King's Church. The church was constructed in 1314, in the form of a compressed cross, with the exterior structure of an octagonal dome. It is built of stone and tufa, with plastered facades. Inside this small church are frescoes of significant value, which date from the second half of the fourteenth century, painted by King Milutin's favorite artists.

The complex of the Studenica monastery includes the Church of St. Nicholas, a small single-nave church frescoed inside with works from the twelfth or possibly early thirteenth centuries. Between the Church of St. Nicholas and the King's Church are the foundations of the church dedicated to St. John the Baptist. West of the Virgin's Church, there is an old refectory made of rubble, built during the time of Archbishop Sava. Finally, on the western side of the monastery complex there is a bell tower, erected in the thirteenth century. There used to be a chapel inside; now, only fragments of frescoes can be seen there. Remains of fresco painting have also been numbered on the external part of the narthex, splendidly representing the Nemanjic dynasty genealogy. They obviously relate to the frescoes from the Virgin's Church which date back to 1208-9.

[serbian army]

Mileševa Monastery
 
About 6 km outside of Prijepolje is the famous Mileševa Monastery, located in the south-western part of Serbia. In front of one of the buildings was a large Serbian Orthodox flag, seemingly making a political/religious statement. Around a portion of the perimeter were stone ruins of a wall and perhaps some Turkish small buildings. King Vladislav founded the monastery around 1234. Two years later, it received the body of St. Sava, elevating its position of importance to second amongst Serbian monasteries. In the 1500’s, the monastery operated a printing shop, spreading liturgical books throughout Serbia and neighboring areas. In retaliation for a Serbian uprising against the Turks in 1688, the monastery was burned and left in ruins. The present-day building dates back to 1863. We were not able to enter the monastery building. The church of the Holy Ascension was erected in 1234/5 in the style of the Raška School.

The inside of the church was definitely the highlight of the visit. A nun lit candles on top of coffin over the gravesite of St. Sava. On the opposite wall was the coffin of a recently canonized individual. In the domes and around other places, frescoes had large pieces missing. The frescoes of King Vladislav and St. Sava were painted during their lifetimes and are seen as some of the best (and accurate) portraits of the 13th century. In addition to the emphasis on realism, the frescoes portray the psychological characterizations of the individuals. As in most frescoes, the founder (in this case Vladislav) is depicted holding a small model of the church. Many of the figures’ eyes had been gouged or obliterated by the Turks. I heard that these may be soon restored. Frescoes depicting the Last Judgment were heavily damaged during WWII when the church was used as a stable. Scenes of the Passion Week covered large portions of the walls. The church’s most famous fresco is the White Angel, now regarded as a symbol of Serbia and recently adopted as an emblem for the United Nations. Around the angel are other portions of the Easter story and Resurrection. Remnants of a fresco once covering the scene leads one to speculate that angel with its enigmatic smile might not be with us today if it were not for such preservation.





Quarters



Right wall, including the White Angel fresco



White Angel Fresco (Resurrection scene)



The remains of the St. King Vladislav, the founder of the Monastery



View of church and surroundings



Mileseva Tower

[serbian army]

Gracanica Monastery



Gracanica Monastery one of King Milutin's last monumental endowments. It is situated in the village of Gracanica, 5 km. from Pristina, the administrative centre of Kosovo and Metohija region. The monastery is in the close vicinity of Lipljan, the ancient Roman town of Ulpiana, and the old residence of bishops. Gracanica was constructed on the ruins of an older 13th-century church of the Theotokos, which was built on the ruins of a 6th-century early Christian three-naved basilica.

In the charter inscribed on the south wall of the chapel, King Milutin says: "I saw the devastation and fall of the church of the Holy Theotokos of Gracanica, Bishopric of Lipljan, I had it built from the foundation stone, I had it inscribed and decorated from the inside and from the outside." All this happened in the year 6830, that is, in 1321 since the birth of Christ. Only the church remains from the original monastery complex. The vestibule with the dome was additionally built several decades later. This vestibule was ruined during Turkish assaults in 1379-1383, when the dome was lost in fire, as well as a rich collection of manuscripts. The vestibule is believed to have been restored in 1383 by Bishop Simeon of Gracanica.

The monastery was damaged during the battle of Kosovo 1389, and when Novo Brdo was conquered in 1455, Metropolitan Benedict Crepovic left Gracanica and was granted use of the monastery Vracevsnica by Despot Djuradj Brankovic. Better times for the monastery started during the incumbency of Metropolitan Nikanor (1528-1555), when a printing house, supervised by master-printer Dimitrije, was operating in Gracanica for a while. At that time, several icons were painted on the iconostasis, and Metropolitan Nikanor had the external vestibule painted and provided some liturgical books and other liturgical objects for the monastery. The royal door was ordered in 1564 by Metropolitan Dionisius, whose death is pictured on a fresco painting in the vestibule. Thanks to Patriarch Macarius Sokolovic. Gracanica monastery was considerably reconstructed: all the openings in the external vestibule were filled, and a new layer of frescoes was completed on September 3, 1570. Patriarch Paisius had the church covered with lead, and a cross with the crucifixion of Christ was manufactured in the 17th century, during the Great Migration of the Serbs under the patriarch Arsenije III Carnojevic. Devastation of the monastery was repeated in the middle of the 18th century. Somewhat later, Jegen-pasha had the lead roof and the floor tiles removed and taken to Pristina. In 1800, this tyrant, having repented for his crime, returned the lead roof and presented the monastery with a plot of land. Later, due to great pressure from the Turkish occupators, the monastery was deserted by monks and the church served as a parish church.


The architectural composition of Gracanica represents the peak of Serbian architecture in the spirit of Byzantine tradition. Unfortunately the rich Gracanica treasury was lost in fires between 1379 and 1383. The present treasury stores a number of valuable icons from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, as well as several significant manuscripts and liturgical objects.

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 war in Kosovo 1999 Bishop of Raska and Prizren Kyr 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 the Province. Bishop Artemije and the Serb National Council make everyday efforts to preserve the Serbian people in Kosovo.





Nuns chanting - a night service at Gracanica Monastery



Gracanica Monastery - a nun in prayer



Gracanica Monastery church from the entrance gate



Bishop Artemije in Gracanica Monastery, March 2002



Liturgy in Gracanica monastery

[serbian army]

Devic Monastery



Devic Monastery near Srbica (Drenica district) was first built in the first half of the 15th century, and was first endowed by Joannicius of Devic (born in the 14th century), the saint with whom the past of this holy place is connected. According to a folk legend, founding of the monastery is ascribed to Despot Djuradj Brankovic, who had it built to the memory of his virgin daughter, which is how the monastery got its name. The fact that Grgur, the son of Despot Djuradj, presented the monastery with a bell in 1458, reinforces the theory that the monastery is connected to the Brankovic family. In the Turkish census from 1455, the monastery is mentioned as the church of the Theotokos (dedicated to the Entrance the Holy Theotokos Mary into the Temple) with monks. The Turks pulled the monastery down, and it remained deserted until the re-establishment of the Patriarchate of Pec in 1557, during the time of the Patriarch Macarius Sokolovic. The church and the site with the grave of St. Joannicius was reconstructed, and was painted in 1578, during the time of Prior Pachomius and Hieromonk Longin with brethren. Fragments of the paintings painted at the time are preserved in the church's apse as well as above Joakinije's tomb where the presentation of the Ascension is the most evident testimony to the inventiveness of the painter. The reputation that the monastery enjoyed in the 16th and 17th centuries due to its saint's relics was increased by its fruitful transcription school. The fact that it managed to be active also in the 19th century is evidenced by oil wall paintings painted after its renewal in 1863.

Monastery Devic suffered the greatest devastation during World War II. Albanians destroyed and burned the monastery in 1941, and savagely killed Damaskin Boskovic, the Prior. Italians disassembled the two big bells and took them away. Only the grave of St. Joannicius, covered with stones from the destroyed church, remained in the monastery. Reconstruction of the monastery began in 1947.


Due to numerous reconstructions, the monastery church lost its original appearance. The southeast paraclis, which had a rectangular base and a spacious apse, is the oldest part of the church. It is covered with a semi-spherical arch ceiling. East from the altar space is the chapel with the marble tomb of Saint Joannicius (Jonicije) of Devic, the patron-saint of the monastery.


The church was painted in the mid-16th century, and in 1578, during the incumbency of Patriarch Pachomius, which is supported by a preserved inscription. The latest paintings originate from 1863, but they were removed in 1966, so that the older and more valuable paintings could be revealed. Only the royal door remained from the original iconostasis. The existing iconostasis was made in 1974 by nuns from Celije monastery, while the carving is the work of Milan Milosevic from Cacak.


The grave of "Blessed Stojana" (Euphemia the Nun), who died in 1895, is in the church. The chapel and the well of St. Joannicius of Devic are outside the monastery.


The monastery was reconstructed in 1954 and returned to active monastic life by the late abbes Parasceva and her sisters who found only heaps of stones on the place where monastery had been. Today there are eight nuns in the monastery who cultivate the monastery land by their own hands . The greatest spiritual treasure of the monastery are the relics of St. Ioanichios of Devic who is known as a great miracle-worker. Almost every day miracles and healings happen in this monastery.



The entrance gate and the courtyard with the belfry



The monastery graveyard





Desecrated tomb of St. Joanikije of Devic



Signature of UCK terrorists - bullets and UCK acronime on the holy icon



An Albanian extremist killing a Serb Orthodox Abbot of Devic - Damaskin Boskovic, 2nd World War
Albanian Nazis comitted terrible crimes against Serbs in WW2 in presence
of German and Italian occupation forces.

[serbian army]

Tavna monastery



Brief history
The date of foundation is hidden somewhere in the shadows of the far past, before the fatal cataclysm which the Serbian people experienced with the coming of the Turks. National tradition, not without reason, sets the date of foundation as beeing during the Nemanich period, or to be more exact, during the region of King Dragutin, who rules these areas as "King of Srem". The cronichles of monasteries Tronosha and Pech say it was built by Dragutin's sons Vladislav and Uroshitz. The present church of monastery Tavna, biult in the same place as the original, is without doubt older than the other monastic churches in the region, Ozren, Liplyel, Vozucha and Gostovich. Monastery Tavna was damaged in th first years of Turkish rule, but was restored by the people under the leadership od haiduks (anti-Turkish gighwaymen). This was not the only time monastery was damaged. Later, drugign the Turkish period there were several attacks on monastery, because haiduks were hiding in it. Later, in the World Wide Wars, Tavna was destroied, but people and monks from the village used to rebuild the church of the monastery.

From 1941. to 1945. Tavna was totaly destroides by the Ustahas (soldiers of Independent state of Croatia). They killed many persons, and also Zdravko Yovanovich from Zhepcha who was shot by a firing squad at the door of the church. On his gravestone is the following inscription: "Killed 1943 by the Ustacha Blue Division protecting and defending the monastery."

[kellymaureen]

Gorgeous buildings, exterior and interior.....can people tour them?

[serbian army]

Gorgeous buildings, exterior and interior.....can people tour them?

Oh yes, but for some monasteries you will need escort like monastery Decani in Kosovo. Italian soldiers will protect you on your way from muslim Albanians. I will post many more pictures of Serbian monasteries. Monks and nuns will be more than happy to see you on liturgy

[kellymaureen]

Gorgeous buildings, exterior and interior.....can people tour them?

Oh yes, but for some monasteries you will need escort like monastery Decani in Kosovo. Italian soldiers will protect you on your way from muslim Albanians. I will post many more pictures of Serbian monasteries. Monks and nuns will be more than happy to see you on liturgy

Are the muslims trying to destroy the buildings?
I love old churches, they are just beautiful!
Being protected by Italian soldiers sounds nice

[serbian army]

Gorgeous buildings, exterior and interior.....can people tour them?

Oh yes, but for some monasteries you will need escort like monastery Decani in Kosovo. Italian soldiers will protect you on your way from muslim Albanians. I will post many more pictures of Serbian monasteries. Monks and nuns will be more than happy to see you on liturgy

Are the muslims trying to destroy the buildings?
I love old churches, they are just beautiful!
Being protected by Italian soldiers sounds nice

Oh yes Kelly, they destroyed about 100 churches and monasteries in three days some years back. Our monks and nuns live in Kosovo monasteries surrounded by barbed wire like in concentration camp. After I present many more beautiful monasteries I will put special section with pictures on our destroyed holy places. Here I presented Devic monastery. As you can see for yourself that is only one holy place out of hudereds destroyed by barbarians....

[JTFFan]

Serbian Army, Thanks so much for these very very beautiful Serbian Orthodox churches. 
I've also been to the Greek Orthodox Church which is also gorgeous, although these Serbian churches look very ancient and spiritual. My Uncle is Greek Orthodox also part Serbian (not a blood relative) is married to my aunt Albanian Orthodox, who is Greek Orthodox now. Now, with children that are my cousins, who are Greek Orthodox.

[kellymaureen]

Thats awful they destroyed such beautiful places, thank you for posting the pictures

I hope to see mecca go BOOM in my lifetime

[Husar]

Thank you, Serbian Army,
for your work here.

 

It's a nice idea to put
these pictures in this JTF forum.
If I knew how to put pictures in the threads,
I would myself do such things...

 

[Lamed]

The Monastery of Ostrog (Serbian Cyrillic: Манастир Острог; Tr. Manastir Ostrog) is a monastery of the Serb Orthodox Church placed against an almost vertical background, high up in the large rock of Ostroška Greda, in Montenegro. It is dedicated to Saint Basil of Ostrog (Sveti Vasilije Ostroški).

[Lamed]

Ljubostinja (Serbian Cyrillic: Љубостиња) is a Serb Orthodox monastery near Trstenik, Serbia. It was founded by Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović in 1388, just before the Battle of Kosovo.

[Lamed]

Mileševa (Serbian Cyrillic: Милешева) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located near Prijepolje, in southwest Serbia. It was founded by King Vladislav, in the years between 1234 and 1236. The church has frescoes by the most skillful artists of that time, including one of the most famous in Serbian culture, the "White Angel", which depicts an angel on Christ's grave.



White Angel

[Lamed]

Žiča (Serbian Cyrillic: Жича) is a 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. It was destroyed by the end of 13th century, but was rebuilt by King Stefan Milutin at the beginning of the 14th century.

[Lamed]

The Patriarchate of Pech (Serbian: Пећка патријаршија or Pećka Patrijaršija) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located near Peć, Kosovo, a Serbian province under UN administration. The complex of churches is the spiritual seat and mausoleum of the Serbian archbishops and patriarchs.

On July 13, 2006 it was placed on UNESCO's World Heritage List as an extension of the Visoki Dečani site which was overall placed on the List of World Heritage Sites in danger.
The precise date of the foundation of the Patriarchate is unknown. It is thought that while Saint Sava was still alive that the site became a metoh (land owned and governed by a monastery) of Žiča monastery, then the seat of the Serbian archbishopric.

Archbishop Arsenije I built the Church of the Holy Apostles, as he wanted the seat of the Serbian Church to be at a more secure location and closer to the centre of the country. Soon, around 1250, he ordered it decoration. Archbishop Nikodim I built the Church of Saint Demetrius around 1320, north of the other church. A decade later, around 1330, his successor, Archbishop Danilo II built a third church, south of the original one - the Church of the Holy Virgin Hodegetria to the south of which he added the small Church of Saint Nicholas. In front of the three main churches, he then raised a monumental narthex. In front of the narthex he built a tower. In the time of Archbishop Joanakije II, around 1345, the hitherto undecorated Church of Saint Demetrius was decorated with frescoes.

During the 14th century, small modifications were made to Church of the Holy Apostles, so some parts were decorated later. From the 13th to the 15th century, and in the 17th century, the Serb Patriarchs and Archbishops of Peć were buried in the churches of the Patriarchate.

[Srbin]

Really nice my brother. I've been there in Ostrog Monastery.

[Lamed]

Đurđevi stupovi (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђурђеви cтупови) (English: The Pillars of Saint George) is a 12th-century Eastern Orthodox monastery located in the vicinity of today's city of Novi Pazar, in the Sandžak 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 have entered a UNESCO list together with the complex of Stari Ras and Sopoćani.

[Husar]

Thank you, Lamed, Brother.

 

[Lamed]

Ravanica

Built between in 1370. and 1380s, Ravanica is the famous Prince Lazar's foundation, where he was buried after his death in the Kosovo battle. Since then, Ravanica has been a pilgrim's destination and an important center of cultural activities and the Serbian people's assemblies. The monastery has been assaulted and injured by the Turks several times, in 1386, 1398. and 1436. In the great war after the second siege of Vienna a number of monks got killed and the rest of them, in 1690, took the relics of the sainted Prince Lazar withdrawing, in front of the Turkish offensive. Only in 1717. the only survived among the monks, Teacher Stefan came back in Ravanica and found the monastery looted and deserted. With the help of the local inhabitants he restored the monastery and built a new narthex. The monastery suffered repeated assaults during the Serbian revolution, at the beginnings of the XIX c. The new restoration took place in the mid of the XIXth century. During the World War II Germans violated and damaged the monastery once more time, and detained, tortured and killed its archimandrite Makarije on February 24. 1943.
The Ravanica church is the first monument of the Morava School of the Serbian medieval art. Its ground plan has the form of an enlarged trefoil with a nine-sided dome in the middle and fpur smaller octagonal domes above the corner bays. There are 62 window lights. The church was built in alternate courses of single-line stone and three-line bricks. Valuable ceramic decoration makes use of geometrical patterns, floral motifs, zoomorphic and athropomorphic shapes.

The frescoes were not carried out at the same time and by the same artists. They are dated between 1385. and 1387. The middle-register frescoes, which are of the highest artistic value wewe painted by two artists, one of them known as Constantine, who left his signature on a fresco of a warrior saint. The noteworthy compositions include the Communion of the Apostles and the Adoration of the Lamb in the altar apse, as well as the festival Cycle in the upper registers of the church.

[Lamed]

St.Sava's Temple - World's Largest Orthodox Church

Back in 1935 the Serbians began construction on what was to be the world's largest Orthodox Church.Over 70 years later,Serbia continues its efforts to complete St Sava's Temple,which is now open despite its unfinished status.

Perhaps St Sava's represents the strong role of the Orthodox faith in Serbian national identity.With Christian Orthodoxy having a decentralized structure,after breaking with the Pope and Rome a thousand years ago,the Serbian Orthodox Church could undertake this massive project on its own.

Despite Nazis,Communism,and the destruction of Yugoslavia,work on St Sava's continues,as the Serbs have every intention to finally finish their monumental project of religious devotion.   

[Joe Schmo]

Doxa si.