# SERBIAN-ORTHODOX CHURCHES & MONASTERYS



## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

Some Pics of serbian-orthodox churches & Monastery's in Serbia, Montenegro, autonom serbian Province Republika Srpska (Bosnia-Hercegowina) & worldwide

More about beautiful Serbia of Natur here:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=706754

Map 










*Sava church in Belgrade (82m)*

*Biggest church of Balkan and 2nd biggest orthodox church in the world






































Golden cross is 12m high














































Sveti Sava


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

Monastery Ostrog (Montenegro)










































































Ostrog monastery

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).

From the monastery, a superb view of the Bjelopavlići plain can be seen. Ostrog, monastery is the most popular pilgrimage place in Montenegro. The Monastery was founded by Vasilije, the Metropolitan Bishop of Herzegovina in the 17th century. He died there in 1671 and some years later he was glorified. His body is enshrined in a reliquary kept in the cave-church dedicated to the Presentation of the Mother of God to the Temple.

The present-day look was given to the Monastery in 1923-1926, after a fire which had destroyed the major part of the complex. Fortunately, the two little cave-churches were spared and they are the key areas of the monument. The frescoes in the Church of the Presentation were created towards the end of the 17th century. The other church, dedicated to the Holy Cross, is placed within a cave on the upper level of the monastery and was painted by master Radul, who successfully coped with the natural shapes of the cave and laid the frescoes immediately on the surface of the rock and the south wall. Around the church are the monastic residences, which together with the church building and the scenery make this monument outstandingly beautiful.

The Orthodox monastery of Ostrog is one of the most frequently visited on the Balkans. It is visited by believers from all parts of the world, either individually or in groups. It represents the meeting place of all confessions: the Orthodox, the Catholics and the Muslims. According to the stories of pilgrims, by praying by his body, many have been cured and helped in lessening the difficulties in their lives.


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

*cave-church near Pirot (South-Eastern Serbia)*


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

*Church Sv.Marko (Belgrade)*


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

*serbian-orthodox church St Simeon Miroticivi in Chicago (USA)*


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

*serbian-orthodox church Sveti Nikola in Brisbane (Australia)*


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## nemtirev (Jun 5, 2008)

Fantastic,i`d like to go to Beograd


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

*Petrova chruch in Novi Pazar from 9 century (Southern Serbia)*


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

*Monastery Sveti Arhangel near Prizren (Metohija / Southern Serbia)*

*Built in 1343 (14 century) by serbian Car Dušan


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

*serbian-orthodox Monastery Hilandar (Autonom Mount Atos / Hellas)*



















Built 1196 (12 century) by serbian King Stefan Nemanja


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

*serbian-orthodox Monastery Ravanica near Ćuprija (Central Serbia)*

built 1375 (14 century) by serbian Car Lazar (Kosovo Battle Serbia VS Ottomans 1389)














































Car Lazar


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

nemtirev said:


> Fantastic,i`d like to go to Beograd



Thx my russian brother. My dream is to go one day to moskva, best city in europe.


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

*Ruin's of old church in Pepeljevac, Kuršumlija (Southern Serbia)*


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

*Old Rockmonastery Savina (Southern Serbia)*


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## robb01 (Oct 24, 2008)

wow I have really enjoyed reading this and looking at all the photos, great work!


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

Monastery Gračanica (Southern Serbia / Kosovo)

Built in 1320 (14 century) from serbian King Milutin




























King Milutin





































Gračanica monastery

Gračanica (Serbian: Манастир Грачаница or Manastir Gračanica) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in southern Serbia (Kosovo).[1] It was founded by the Serbian king Stefan Milutin in 1321. On July 13, 2006 it was placed on UNESCO's World Heritage List under the name of Medieval Monuments in Kosovo as an extension of the Visoki Dečani site which was overall placed on the List of World Heritage Sites in danger.[1]

Gračanica Monastery is one of King Milutin's last monumental endowments. It is situated in the village of Gračanica, 5 km from Priština, in an enclave with the same name.[2] The monastery is in the close vicinity of Lipljan (ancient Roman town of Ulpiana), the old residence of bishops.

History

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 within and without". Of the former monastic compound, only the church has survived. The narthex 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 Turkish rule Gračanica became an important cultural center. In the time of Metropolitan 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 Sokolović. 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 between 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.

Architecture

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 narthex 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 exonarthex was added with double arcades, but these were blinded in the 16th century.

Art

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 narthex. 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 ecclesiastical 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 fourteenth and early fifteenth 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.

Chicago Replica

Third Lake, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago is home to the New Gračanica church and monastery complex, which houses a detailed replica of the Gračanica monastery in Kosovo. Built on land that the Most Holy Mother of God Serbian Association purchased in 1977, New Gračanica Church and the main building on its grounds dedicated to the feast of the "Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God" were completed and consecrated in 1984. It is an impressive architectural replica of the original Gračanica of Kosovo, but built in a scale eighteen percent larger than the original. New Gračanica is richly attired with detail such as hand-carved wooden entrance doors depicting twenty-three monasteries and churches from various regions of Serbia.


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

*serbian-orthodox church in Hannover (Niedersachsen / Germany)*


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

*St.Ilija church in Niška Banja (Niš / South-Eastern Serbia)*


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

little orthodox church above village of Matejevac, next to Nis.
Dates back to 11th century, built by Byzantines. Belonged to Serbs, Bulgars, Austrians, Dubrovnik...
Nowdays, only a pictoresque ruin which glows superbly when there is some sunset


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

The new Serbian orthodox church on mountain Rudnik in central Serbia


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## Rade Nagraisalović (Oct 1, 2008)

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour -Banja Luka









Crkva pokrova presvete Bogorodice u Karanovcu-Banja Luka









Church of the Holy Trinity-Banja Luka









Hram Uspenja presvete Bogorodice - Banja Luka









Bogojavljenska crkva-Banja Luka









Crkva u selu Lađevci (Čelinac).









Temple of Saint Vasilije Ostroški in Banja Luka.









Hram Sv. vmč. kneza Lazara - Banja Luka


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## Rade Nagraisalović (Oct 1, 2008)

Crkva brvnara Svetog Nikole u Javoranima. 









New St. Nicholas Church from 1931.-Javorani.


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

To brate rokaj ti manastire i crkve iz republike srpske sto ja slabo znam taj nas kraj. Znam ove velike manastire ali ti 100% znas vise. 

Hvala za pomoc lepe slike ^^


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## Deki---KG (Jun 14, 2007)

*Patriarchate of Peć (Metohija / Southern Serbia)*































































































































The Patriarchate of Peć (Serbian: Пећка патријаршија or Pećka Patrijaršija is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located near Peć, in the disputed Serbian province of Kosovo i Metohija. 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.

Foundation

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 Serbian Patriarchs and Archbishops of Peć were buried in the churches of the Patriarchate.

Restoration

Restoration of the complex began in June 2006 and was completed in November 2006. The main aim was to protect the complex from the weather, as well as to repair the inner walls and exterior appearance. Two previously unknown frescoes were uncovered on the north facade of the Church of St. Demtrios, of a Serbian queen and nobleman.


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