Gračanica monastery

Gračanica Monastery

Манастир Грачаница Manastir Gračanica
Gračanica
Monastery information
Other names	Holy Virgin's temple of Gračanica
Order	Serbian Orthodox
Established	1321
Dedicated to	Holy Virgin
Diocese	Eparchy of Raška and Prizren
People
Founder(s)	King Stefan Milutin
Important associated figures	Stefan Milutin, Queen Simonida, Patriarch Makarije Sokolović, Bishop Artemije
Architecture
Style	Serbo-Byzantine style
Site
Location	Village of Gračanica, 5 km (3.1 mi) from Pristina, Kosovo[a]
Public access	yes
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name: Medieval Monuments in Kosovo
Type:	Cultural
Criteria:	ii, iii, iv
Designated:	2004 (28th session)
Reference No.	724
Region:	Europe and North America
State party:	Serbia
Extensions:	2006
Cultural Heritage of Serbia
Official name: МАНАСТИР ДЕЧАНИ
Type:	Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance
Designated:	1947
Reference No.	СК 1367[1]

Gračanica (pronounced [ɡratʃǎnitsa]; Serbian: Манастир Грачаница, Manastir Gračanica) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in Kosovo. It was founded by the Serbian king Stefan Milutin in 1321. Gračanica Monastery was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional 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 in Kosovo as an extension of the Visoki Dečani site which was overall placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.^[2][3]

The Gračanica Monastery is one of King Milutin's last monumental endowments. It is situated in the village of Gračanica, a Serb enclave 5 km (3.1 mi) from Pristina.^[4] The monastery is in the close vicinity of Lipljan (ancient Roman town of Ulpiana), the old residence of bishops.

History

Fresco of the founder, Stefan Milutin

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 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 Ottoman 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

Queen Simonida of Serbia, wife of King Milutin, a fresco from Gračanica monastery.

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 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.

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. The church is dedicated to the feast of the "Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God". Built on land that the Most Holy Mother of God Serbian Association purchased in 1977, the New Gračanica Church and the main building on its grounds 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 historic and current regions of Serbia.

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  Monastery

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  Assumption of Mary, fresco from Gračanica.

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  Queen Hélène d'Anjou as a nun and King Milutin as a monk, fresco from Gračanica.

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  St. Mark's Church in Belgrade, reminiscent of the Gračanica monastery.

See also

• Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance
• Tourism in Serbia
• List of Serb Orthodox monasteries
• Serbian Orthodox Church
• Medieval Monuments in Kosovo
• Serbs in Kosovo
• Podujevo bus bombing

Notes and references

Notes:

References:

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gračanica Monastery.

External links

• Official web presentation of Raska and Prizren Diocese
• Serbian Unity Congress

v t e World Heritage Sites of Serbia Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius Stari Ras Đurđevi stupovi Peter's Church Sopoćani Studenica Monastery Medieval Monuments in Kosovo Visoki Dečani Patriarchate of Peć Our Lady of Ljeviš Gračanica Monastery

v t e Cultural Heritage of Serbia Archaeological sites Exceptional Importance Great Importance Protected Monuments of Culture Exceptional Importance Great Importance Protected Historic Landmarks Exceptional Importance Great Importance Protected Spatial Cultural-Historical Units Exceptional Importance Great Importance Protected

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Lazarica Orahovica Sv. Nedjelje Sv. Petke Sv. Vasilija Ostroškog Others Hilandar (Mount Athos) New Gračanica Monastery (USA) Notes * indicate monasteries in Kosovo, which is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Kosovo. List of Serbian Orthodox monasteries v t e Serbian Orthodox churches Serbia Temple of Saint Sava St. Michael's Cathedral Ružica St. Mark's Church St. Basil of Ostrog St. Achillius, Arilje Peter's Church, Ras Pećinska church Štava church Odžaklija Kađenica Lazarica Church Lukovo church Church of Holy Ascension, Krupanj Cathedral of Novi Sad the Assumption, Zrenjanin Our Lady of Ljeviš* Church of Virgin Hodegetria* St. Elijah Church* Church of St. Nicholas, Prizren* Mala Gospojina Church* Christ the Saviour Cathedral, Pristina* Montenegro Cathedral of Podgorica Our Lady of Remedy Vlah Church Bosnia and Herzegovina Cathedral Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel Church of the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Banja Luka Old St. Nicholas Church, Javorani Croatia St. Petka's Church, Banovci Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Trpinja Church of St. Nicholas, Vukovar Church of Pentecost, Vinkovci Church of St. George, Kneževo Church of Assumption of Blessed Virgin, Negoslavci Church of Pentecost, Markušica Church of St. George, Bobota Church of St. Stephen, Borovo Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, Srijemske Laze Church of St. Peter and Paul, Bolman Church of St. Stefan Štiljanović, Karanac Church of St. Nicholas, Mirkovci Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, Gaboš Church of St. Nicholas, Jagodnjak Church of St. Demetrius, Dalj Zagreb Orthodox Cathedral Church of St. George, Grubišno Polje Church of St. Nicholas, Karlovac Church of Nativity of the Virgin, Drežnica Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, Štikada Orthodox church of st. George, Varaždin Holy Annunciation Orthodox church, Dubrovnik Orthodox Church in Knin Church of St. Peter and Paul, Tepljuh San Spirodine Church, Peroj Church of St. Nicholas, Rijeka Church of St. Nicholas, Vrlika Orthodox church of Holy Salvation, Cetina Other countries Saints Constantine and Helen Serbian Orthodox Church, USA Trinity Chapel Complex, USA Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church, Jackson, USA Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church, Slovenia Serbian Church (Arad), Romania St. Sava Church, Paris, France Church of the Holy Prince Lazar, United Kingdom Serbian Orthodox Church, Halifax, United Kingdom St. Nicholas, West Wycombe, United Kingdom Saint Spyridon Church, Trieste, Italy Annunciation Church, Szentendre, Hungary Transfiguration Church, Szentendre, Hungary Church of Our Lady, Göteborg, Sweden Notes * indicate churches in Kosovo, which is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Kosovo. v t e Serbian saints St. Angelina St. Basil of Ostrog St. Danilo II St. Helen of Anjou St. Jovan Vladimir St. Prince Lazar / St. Princess Milica St. Makarije Sokolović St. Nikodim I St. Nikolaj Velimirović St. Peter of Cetinje St. Sava St. Sava II St. Simeon the Monk St. Simeon the Myrrh-flowing St. Stefan Lazarević St. Stefan Štiljanović St. Stefan Uroš St. Stefan of Dečani St. Stefan the Blind St. Stefan of Piperi Teodor Komogovinski St. Vladislav St. Vukašin

Coordinates: 42°35′54″N 21°11′36″E / 42.59833°N 21.19333°E / 42.59833; 21.19333