Stara Pavlica Monastery

Stara Pavlica Monastery lies on the rocky plateau above the Ibar River, in the village of Pavlica, 6 km north of Raska.

It is believed to originate from the pre-Nemanjic era, or from the very beginning of their rule at the end of the 12^th century. The monastery is mentioned for the first time in the Charter of King Stefan the First.

The history of this area is connected to the Music brothers, their father Musa, and mother Dragana, Prince Lazar’s sister. Musa, the most trusted Lord in the retinue of Emperor Dusan, in 1363 bartered Zvecan and Zvecan’s parish for Brvenik and Brvenik’s parish. During that barter he got, besides the other villages, “Paul’s church and the hamlet of Orah”. Even today in Pavlica there is a hamlet named Orah, and the aforementioned church is most likely today’s Stara Pavlica.

The church from the pre-Nemanjic period is mentioned in the book “The Kingdom of the Slavs” by Mauro Orbini, wherein is described the imprisonment of Nikola Altomanovic (the Serbian ruler in the 14^th century) in Uzice in 1373. It is assumed that Altomanovic was hidden in the male monastery of Stara Pavlica. Similar data can be found in other Serbian chronicles.

Within the monastery walls there is a partially preserved church dedicated to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, who gave their names to the monastery and the village – Serbian for Paul: Pavle – Pavlica. Archaeological data leads us to suspect that a church already existed on that site when Stefan Nemanja came into the Ibar Valley.

Stara Pavlica is a one-nave basilica with a dome and four columns. On the eastern side were three apses, of which the middle one was the biggest and in possession of a window. The church was built of stone, brick and clay.

The frescoes in the interior are in fragments. The church was painted twice, and among the fresco paintings from the 13^th century which have been preserved are images of the Evangelists, with remains of the Crucifixion on the North wall and also a couple of portraits.

Near the Stara Pavlica monastery there is also the Nova Pavlica monastery, built towards the end of the 14^th century by the Music brothers as their endowment, to which their mother, Dragana, retired and became a nun.

All the remains of this monastery are conserved and protected from deterioration today. A complete architectural restoration was done in 1949, and during the 1970’s the frescoes were conserved and placed under a protective glass covering.

The greatest damage to the church is from the period when a railway was built through the Ibar Valley, during which the rock on which the church sits had to be undercut.

Church of Peter

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The Church Saint Apostles Peter and Paul, or Church of Peter, is located on a hill near Stari Ras, the mediaeval capital of Rascia (Serbia) near Novi Pazar, Serbia. It is the oldest church in Serbia, dating from the 9^th or 10^th century, when the first Serbian state was created under great Prefect Nemanja in the 11th century.
 

Petar Gojnikovic, who ruled Serbia from 892-917, was entombed in this church. In the chrysobulls of Basil II dated to 1020, the Ras bishopric is mentioned as serving the whole of Serbia, with its seat at the Church of the Apostolic Saints Peter and Paul. Saint Sava (1175–1235), founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church, a Serbian prince and the brother of the Serbian king Stefan Prvovencani (the First-Crowned) was baptised in this church. Stefan Nemanja held the council here which outlawed the Bogomils, an ancient Gnostic religious sect which originated in Bulgaria, and whose refusal to adhere to Orthodox dogma made them a destabilising element in the embattled Serbian kingdom of the early Middle Ages. 

Black-figure vase

Archaeological findings attest that the church was built on several earlier churches, the remains of which have been well preserved. During archaeological excavations in 1957/58 a 5^th century BC Illyrian royal grave was excavated beneath the floor of the church. Greek sculptures dating from the 7^th and 6^th century BC, as well as Black-figure pottery, silver dishes, gold jewellery, bronze, glass and amber objects, masks, beads and other items of remarkable historical value were also unearthed. Today the church is surrounded by the 18-19th century Serbian Orthodox cemetery which is one of the best preserved of its kind in Serbia.

In the 7^th century, above the former Prince’s grave, an Early Christian church was built which was converted in the 9^th or 10^th century. This construction work was probably started during the reign of Caslav Klonimirovic (Serbian Prince who ruled probably between 927-960), and formed the basis of the church which with later alterations assumed today's appearance.

 
The foundation of the church, with its massive columns, extensive floor-plan and an octagonal tower which conceals an inner dome are examples of the circular mausoleum architectural type used after Emperor Constantine. The Church has a ground plan of a rotunda with an inscribed quatrefoil, and originates from the Byzantine era, while the frescoes are from the 10^th, 12^th and 13^th century.

After exhaustive archaeological excavations, this church was fully restored in 1960. Stylistically it is similar to churches in Georgia and Armenia dating from the 7^th to 9^th centuries, but thanks to the alterations and upgrades it became unique, which was one of the reasons that it found a place on the UNESCO list of protected monuments.

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

 

Prohor Pcinjski Monastery

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Prohor Pcinjski Monastery lies on the wooded slopes of Kozjak Mountain, 30 km south of Vranje on the left bank of the River Pcinja, near the village of Klenika.

Romanus IV Diogenes' Coin

According to tradition, it was founded between 1067 and 1071 by the Byzantine Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes in honour of Saint Prohor Pcinjski, who prophesied that Romanus would become Emperor.

According to King Stefan Prvovencani, Stefan Nemanja conquered the Vranje area during the wars with the Byzantine Empire (1180-1190). Assimilating the newly conquered territories into a greater Serbia required the need for re-organisation of the church, which St. Sava carried out in 1220.

St. Prohor Pcinjski

The original church, a modest, single nave building, was erected above the grave of this renowned saint and missionary. It has been restored numerous times. One of the most significant restorations was carried out by King Milutin, who in 1316/17 employed his favourite Thessalonian artists Mihail and Eutychus to paint the new church.

The original church, a modest, single nave building, was erected above the grave of this renowned saint and missionary. It has been restored numerous times. One of the most significant restorations was carried out by King Milutin, who in 1316/17 employed his favourite Thessalonian artists Mihail and Eutychus to paint the new church.

After the Battle of Kosovo, the monastery was demolished by the Turks. It was restored in 1489 by Marin of Kratovo, with the frescoes painted at this time being 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’ who were resident there created frescoes of great value in the chapel on the south side of the church.

So-called Vranjska Gate

A monastery fence made of cut stone is covered with stone plates and ceramida; the monastic quarters (konak), are on the northern, western and southern side. The main gate, the Vranjska gate, leads directly from the west towards the church portal; the southern gate, below the konak, is facing Kumanovo, from which it got its name. To the east, the church is divided from the Mitropolija by the partially excavated foundations of the mediaeval church of St. John.

The imposing multi-domed church which now occupies the site was built in 1898-1904, and incorporated the older structures into its overall design. The entrance to the church is on the west side atop 12 semi-circular steps.

Even with the lack of material evidence, it is believed that the tomb of St. Prohor Pcinjski was part of the former temple. From the oldest shrine only the chapel with the relics of St. Prohor was preserved – a small, short, rectangular place. In the spherically shaped eastern side are relics, where in the right upper corner is a small hole through which, throughout the entire millennium, a miraculous miro poured. 

According to a preserved inscription on the north wall, the church had an iconostasis which was an integral architectural feature, being unusually constructed from masonry. The church was significantly restored at the end of the 16^th century, when the chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary was added to the main body of the church.

This monastery complex is dominated by two monastic quarters, of which the monumental “Vranjski konak” is one of the most beautiful buildings of this type in Serbia. It was built between 1854 and 1862, thanks to the generosity of Hadzi-Mihailo Pogarcevic, a merchant from Vranje.

 

So-called Vranjski konak

Within the monastery there is a theological school, and the artistic principles of iconography are also taught there.

The building is under the protection of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the Republic of Serbia, and was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and is therefore protected by Republic of Serbia.

Tronosa Monastery

Tronosa monastery is located in the central part of Serbia, in Macva District, near Trsic village.

Queen Katalina

According to legend, King Dragutin started building the monastery, but he died during its construction. Therefore his wife, Queen Katalina, finished it in 1317. However, in the Tronosa Chronicle from 1791, only Dragutin’s wife is mentioned as the founder of the monastery.

The church of Tronosa monastery is dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, and is a single nave building built in 1559 in the Raska architectural style. The Iconostasis was painted in 1834 by Nikola Jankovic, the 19^th century church painter, who painted all the icons except two which were done in 1866. The monastery was consecrated in 1834.

Today’s monastery complex consists of: a church, new quarters with a spacious dining room, an exhibition room, and a museum dedicated to Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic (Serbian linguist and major reformer of the Serbian language) who was educated in this monastery from 1797.

There is a concrete fountain not far from the monastery, built (according to legend) by Jug Bogdan and the nine brothers Jugovic before heading to the Battle of Kosovo. Above the fountain there is a chapel dedicated to St. Panteleimon. It was rebuilt by Archimandrite Metodije and a merchant from Lesnica, Mladen Isakovic, in 1894. The last renewal of the chapel and the fountain was done by Bishop Jovan and the Prior of Tronosa, Antonije Djurdjevic. On the exterior of the chapel, above the water pipe, there’s a mosaic representing the nine Jugovic brothers with Jug Bogdan in the middle, all on their horses heading to the battle of Kosovo.

Chapel with a fountain

The monastery played an important part in the preservation of Serbian culture and tradition.

Prior Jovan formed a copying school in the monastery, where between 1571 and 1581 service books for Tronosa and other nearby monasteries were copied, thus preserving the historical and cultural documents of Serbia.

One of the most beautiful folk customs connected to Tronosa monastery are the so-called Cropping Candles. Two nearby villages collect contributions of wax and money in order to make candles 2m high and weighing over 50kg.

During the Turkish period, Tronosa was burnt, demolished and pillaged several times. It was rebuilt in 1559. The monastery was burnt again in 1813, and restored in 1833 thanks to Prince Milos Obrenovic.

During the First and Second Serbian uprising, Tronosa was a meeting place of the uprisings leaders. In WWI a hospital was improvised in the monastery for the wounded. The last demolition of Tronosa was at the beginning of WWII, when besides major damage to the building, valuable manuscripts and objects from the treasury were destroyed. After WWII the church was restored between 1964 and 1987, during the festivities dedicated to Vuk Karadzic.

Grgeteg Monastery

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The Grgeteg Monastery is located on the southern slope of Fruska Gora Mountain in northern Serbia, in the province of Vojvodina. The monastic church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas. According to tradition, it was founded by Despot Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk (Vuk Brankovic) in 1471: the intention was to place his blind father Grgur, a monk from Hilandar monastery, there, and the monastery got its name in reference to his father. However, Grgur died in 1459, and was buried under his monastic name of Father German; therefore the story remains just a legend. 

The first reliable historical records come from Turkish documents dating from 1546.

The monastery was abandoned at the end of the 17^th century, during the Austro-Turkish wars, and remained deserted until the Great Serbian Migration in 1690, when it was inhabited by the monks who fled from Serbia.

The old stone church was replaced by the new baroque edifice between 1766 and 1771 when the bell tower was also built.

There were two iconostases in the church: the first one, which remained in the church till 1901, was painted by Jakov Orfelin in 1774. The other, still present today, was designed by Herman Bolle and painted by Uros Predic in 1902. Of Orfelin’s work, only two icons were preserved – one of St. Nicholas and another of St. John the Baptist. Herman Bolle also designed a small wooden iconostasis for the chapel, upon which the icons were painted by the famous painter and cartoonist Pjer Krizanic in 1911.

Iconostasis

Monastic quarters were built in the second half of the 18^th century, and were renewed together with the church in 1901.

St.Nicholas church surrounded by monastic quarters

In WWII the monastery suffered great destruction – the Croatian Ustase destroyed the monastic library, the archive and other cultural, historical and artistic works. Almost 2000 rare old books and the entire archive, collected from the late 17^th century up to the war years, were used as fire fuel. German troops, together with the Ustase, threw huge numbers of grenades into the monastery on 22^nd September 1943, then mined and destroyed the bell tower.

Demolition of the monastery continued even after the war – mainly by the peasants from the nearby villages who stole the bricks, and communist youths, who shot the images of the Saints on the iconostases, which still bear the bullets - especially the composition “The Annunciation” and the image of Christ.

Conservation and restoration have been under way since 1987.

Three Handed Virgin

Today, the monastery complex consists of the church, quarters on all 4 sides, and administrative buildings. There is an icon of the Three Handed Virgin, thus the monastery is visited by many pilgrims.

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

Banjska Monastery

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Banjska Monastery, the royal sepulchre of the Serbian King Stefan Uros II Milutin (one of the most powerful Balkan rulers of the period and one of the most powerful rulers of the entire Nemanjic dynasty) is located near the village of Banjska in Zvecan municipality, north of Kosovska Mitrovica.

Aerial view

King Milutin

King Milutin's Relics

The monastery church, dedicated to the Holy Archdeacon Stefan, was built in the same location where the seat of the Banjska diocese existed in the 13th century, during the rule of Milutin's father, King Uros I. During Milutin's reign the monastery was restored between 1313 and 1316 and became the fourth most important monastery in the Serbian Archdiocese. When the Holy King Milutin passed away in his summer palace in Nerodimlje (near Urosevac) in the year 1321, Archbishop Danilo II (appointed builder of the shrine) transferred his body to Banjska where he was buried with full royal honours. However, following the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 his body was moved to Trepca and then in 1445 to Sofia, in Bulgaria, in the church of St. Alexander Nevsky, awaiting its return to Banjska once more.

The monumental building with its church, library, monks' quarters and "imperial palace" began to fall into disrepair very quickly. At the beginning of the 15th century, a fire destroyed the library and in the second half of the same century the monastery is presumed to have been abandoned. During the 17th century the Turks desecrated the holy site and transformed the church of Banjska Monastery into a mosque. The monastery suffered great destruction in 1689 when the Turkish and Austrian armies alternately used it as a fortress during the Austrian-Turkish War.

Queen Theodora’s Ring

At the end of the 17th century the Turks dug up the marble floor of the church in a sacrilegious quest to find the gold of Archbishop Danilo. The first more serious investigations began immediately after the liberation of Kosovo and Metohija in 1912. In 1915 two gold rings were found in the grave of Queen Theodora, the mother of the Emperor Dusan, later buried in the northern chapel of the church. These rings are considered to be the most beautiful examples of Serbian medieval jewellery: one of them is adorned with an antique cameo and the other contains the image of a heraldic eagle with the inscription “Who wears this, God bless them”. The cameo ring is held by the family of the famous collector Ljubomir Nedeljkovic, and the heraldic ring is preserved in the National Museum in Belgrade. In 1938, after the end of the investigation and the digging up of the foundations of the surrounding residence halls, the church was partially restored and placed under a temporary roof.

The monastery was granted a large estate at its founding, a profitable grant of 75 villages and 8 pastures. According to medieval sources, as well as oral tradition, Banjska was one of the most beautiful Serbian monasteries, built in the style of the Raska School, using the plan of the church of the Theodokos in Studenica as a model, specifically requested by King Milutin.

The base of the church consists of a single nave building with the monumental apse and chapels on both sides of the main nave. The portal on the west side was adorned with two monumental towers.

The exterior is decorated with a combination of tricoloured marble as well as rich stone sculptures. The most significant preserved sample, a relief sculpture of the Theodokos with Christ that decorated the main portal, is today located in the nearby Sokolica Monastery. Only fragments presenting the saints in arched medallions under the main cupola from the rich frescoes done during the period from 1317 to 1321 have been preserved.

Exterior

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

Kalenic Monastery

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Kalenic monastery is an important Serbian Orthodox monastery near the town of Trstenik in central Serbia. Built by protodaviar Bogdan (taking care of the finances of despot Stefan Lazarevic), his wife Milica and his brother Petar in the early 15th century (1407-1413), it got the name as a result of the long river of Kalenic passing through the southern side of hilly Levac, which feeds into Velika Morava River.

Church of Kalenic Monastery with Quarters

The Turkish census mentioned it in 1476/78 and 1516 as a monastery in Levce dedicated to the Mother of God. Kalenic has been destroyed several times by the Turks, and was abandoned in the late 17^th century.

King Stefan I

Since the beginning of the 18^th century, monks from the Moraca monastery came to Kalenic and began its restoration. In 1815 the remains of King Stefan I were transferred from Fenek in Srem to Kalenic monastery, to be returned to Studenica in 1839.

The monastery was significantly restored in 1766 and several times since then, and thoroughly restored between 1928 and 1930. After WWII, conservation works were carried out on two occasions – between 1968 and 1970 and during the last decade of the 20^th century.

The monastery church is dedicated to the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, built in the style known as Moravian architecture, and is one of the most beautiful buildings of its time in the Byzantine world. The architectural basis is a trefoil, with a narthex added on the west side of the nave. Over the central part of the church is a tall, elongated octagonal dome, and over the narthex is also a dome with no windows.

Kalenic's exterior is rather picturesque. This charming facade is achieved by the method of construction, where the temple was built of rows of gray stone and red brick, bound with a thick layer of white lime plaster. The facade has two horizontal outlets - cordon cornices, which wrap the building. Windows and the main portal are decorated with shallow stone reliefs, imaginatively interwoven with two-member bands, as well as with carved human and animal figures above the two-part window openings. They mostly serve as decoration, showing scenes from life, fantastic animals, an event from the Old Testament, and even the mythological centaur Chiron. The most striking is a relief with an image of the Virgin, the infant Christ and two angels. Both the figures and ornaments on the facade had once been painted, and traces of paint are still visible in places.

Wedding at Cana

The original frescoes, painted a few years after building the church, are largely preserved, except in the damaged calotte dome. Under the destroyed image of the Pantocrator was the image of the Heavenly Liturgy. Two series of frescoes of the prophets are better preserved than the faded display of the four evangelists, traditionally placed in pendentives. Between a destroyed Madonna with Child in the altar apse conch, and the compulsory Communion of the Apostles, develops the cycle of the risen Christ - including two scenes related to the Resurrection. Below is the Communion of the Apostles of the Hierarchs. Apostles and deacons are painted on the walls of the altar, pilasters and window frames. An exquisite image of the Dead Christ in the niche of the prosthesis is connected to the Communion display. The Festival Cycle was displayed in the latterly damaged vaults and the highest parts of the nave. A program dedicated to celebrating Christ's earthly life occupies, along with the cycle of miracles, the middle zone of the nave, where some scenes - like the Wedding at Cana – are among the highest achievements of Byzantine art. That can be also applied to certain characters in the lower zone, where excessive beauty and extraordinary skill are evident among the depictions of the standing figures of the saints, and especially, the Holy Warriors. Among the standing figures in the lower zone of the narthex are the presentation of Deisis, holy fathers, hermits and the portraits of the founders. All other zones up to the dome contain images depicting the Virgin’s and Christ’s childhood.

Even though the signatures of the painters of Kalenic weren’t found, it is considered that the painter named Radoslav (the author of the miniatures in the Gospel of Visarion) was the main painter of the painting group that painted the temple. His original drawing style, mastery of colour and chromatic effects, bald approach in composing of the masses, and retouching of the old iconographic schemes, are just some of the reasons why the Kalenic frescoes are considered the highest artistic achievement. These frescoes are of light colours, with stifled plasticity of human character and strong lines.

The present iconostasis originates from the great reconstruction in Prince Milos Obrenovic's time and it consists of 37 icons, displayed in 4 levels, all works of different artists.

Recently, the miraculous icon of the Virgin Gerondisa from Sveta Gora was placed on display on a special throne between the altar and south choir.

After the great fire in 1911, in which the monastic quarters from Milos’ time were damaged, thanks were owed to prior Nikon Lazarevic Tintor, who arranged for the construction of great monastic quarters, which were nationalised after WWII. It was returned to the Church in the end of the 20^th century, to be restored in 1997. New great quarters were built in 2008, right before the celebration of 600 years since the founding of the monastery.

Monastic Quarters

There’s a rich church treasury of Sumadija’s eparchy and library furnished by the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts in Kalenic monastery.

Every year, a traditional art colony also takes place at Kalenic.

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