Tuesday 12 October 2010

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 17th century.

King Stefan I
Since the beginning of the 18th 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 20th 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 20th 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.



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