List of monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church

Middle Serbia

Vojvodina

Fruska Gora

The monasteries of Fruska Gora are located on the ridge of the same name in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina , in the historical and geographical region of Srem . All 16 monasteries belong to the Diocese of Srems ^[1] .

Most of the monasteries of the Frushe Mountain were built under the influence of the Moravian and Rashish architectural schools. Later they were significantly reconstructed - the churches received high multistage bell towers in the Baroque style , and inside - large, complex iconostases painted by the best Serbian artists of the time ^[2] .

During its existence, monasteries often suffered during wars. In 1941–45, the monasteries of Fruska Gora were plundered by Croatian Ustashes . The relics of Orthodox saints, stolen by the Ustashes, were requisitioned by the German occupying forces (who transferred them to the Protestant church, which later returned them to the Orthodox clergy) ^[3] . In 1999, monasteries suffered from bombing by NATO aircraft ^[2] .

In 1990, the complex of monasteries of the Frushskaya Mountain was given the status of cultural heritage of particular importance ^[2] .

Others

Kosovo Metohia

Kosovo and Metohija were the center of medieval Serbian statehood during its highest prosperity in the 13th – 14th centuries. Therefore, in the province in large numbers are the crooks of the Serbian rulers, nobles and church hierarchs ^[4] . Major cities, such as Pec , Pristina and Prizren , were important political, economic and religious centers, around which monasteries were founded. Following the example of Byzantium, monasteries and churches in Kosovo and Metohija were built on places where shrines important for Christians used to be located ^[5] . They played an important role in the development of Serbian culture, in particular - writing ^[6] .

Most Serbian monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija were built in the following styles ^[7] :

• rashsky, which reflects the Byzantine and Western heritage;
• Serbian-Byzantine, also referred to as Kosovo-Metohian;
• Moravian, embodying the influence of the two styles listed above and the Chilandar school.

Monastic complexes, as a rule, included one or several temples, refectory, libraries, premises and fortifications ^[4] .

After the war of NATO against Yugoslavia and the transition of Kosovo and Metohija under the control of NATO troops, the destruction of Serbian religious and cultural sites began across the region ^[8] . According to a letter from the 2002 Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Pavel , to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary- General in Kosovo, Michael Steiner, and the Commander-in-Chief of the International Peacekeeping Force in Kosovo ( KFOR ), General Marcel Valentin, more than 120 Orthodox churches were destroyed in Kosovo by the Albanians. of which are of medieval origin and are part of the world cultural heritage ^[9] .

In 2004, the High Decani Monastery was enlisted in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites . The frescoes of the monastery were characterized as "one of the most valuable exhibits of the Palaeologic Renaissance in Byzantine fine art" and "a valuable reflection of the life of the fourteenth century." Two years later, in 2006, the heritage site was expanded, and two more Orthodox monasteries and one church were included in the list. At the same time, they were credited to the list of world heritage under threat due to possible attacks by Albanian militants . All objects are protected by KFOR . At the same time, visiting by pilgrims of a number of monasteries and churches is possible only when accompanied by KFOR soldiers ^[2] .

Monasteries

Convents

Restored monasteries

New monasteries under construction

Republika Srpska

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The first Serbian monastery in the Kingdom of Croatia was the Krupa Monastery , founded in 1317 by monks who fled Bosnia from the Turks at the expense of King Stephen Uros II ^[10] . At about the same time, the Krka Monastery was founded at the expense of Princess Elena Shubich Nemanich, sisters of King Stefan Uros IV and wife of Croatian nobleman Mladen III Subic ^[11] . During the mass migration of the Serbs to the lands of the Military Border , the construction of Orthodox monasteries began. Some of them, such as the monasteries of Brshlyanats, Komogovina and Marcha, were closed by the Austrian authorities in the second half of the 18th century. Many monasteries suffered during the Second World War, when the Croatian Ustashi were genocidal of the Serbs and the persecution of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Part of the monasteries also suffered from the Croatian troops and marauders during the war of 1991-1995 , including the medieval monasteries of Krupa and Krk ^{[12] [13]} . After the war, reconstruction and renovation of a number of monasteries began.

For 2013, there were fifteen functioning monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church, of which: two in the Zagreb-Ljubljana Metropolis ^[14] , three in the Gornokarlovatsky Diocese ^[15] , six in the Dalmatian Diocese ^[16] , four in the Slavonian Diocese ^{[17 ]} .

In the Republic of Macedonia, at the moment all the monasteries belong to the Macedonian Orthodox Church , which is not recognized by any other Orthodox Church. Many monasteries have become desolate due to the lack of monks of the splitting organization. Part of the Macedonian Christians realized the origins and causes of the foundation of the Macedonian Church and returned to the bosom of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

• MANASTERIES AT REPUBLIC OF SRPSKO AND BOSNI AND HERCEGOVINI