Sase Monastery

The Holy Trinity Monastery Sase is located in the mining village of Sase , 15 kilometers from Bratunts and Srebrenica, near the ancient archaeological site of Domavia. On this archaeological site, the remains of two buildings were discovered: large baths and municipality buildings that existed already in 220 and were used up to the 4th century. The monastery is located on the territory, which even in the time of the Romans was known for its rich deposits of silver, lead and zinc. In the forties of the XIII century, German miners, Saxons came to these territories. Fleeing from the Mongols from the territory of today's Ukraine, the Saxons arrived in Serbia, bringing with them new technologies for discovering deposits and processing ore, primarily zinc, lead, silver and gold. Saxons have developed numerous mines in the territory of the Serbian state.

The monastery was built in 1242 and was a metocho / courtyard / of the monastery of Hilandar. Zadushbin (a building in medieval Serbia (usually a church or monastery), built by the ruler to save the soul (“for the soul”) of St. Tsar Stephen Uros V Nemanich (the son of Tsar Dushan “Strong”), whose cross has been kept in the monastery for a long period. recall that at the beginning of the 15th century this territory was owned by the Serbian ruler ("despot") Stefan Lazarevich, and Srebrenica at that time was the center of the Srebrenic metropolis. During the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia, the mines and mining settlements were deserted, and with them deserted For example, for almost 400 years, the foundation of the former monastery church was hidden under the layers of earth, oblivion and suspense.

Only after the opening of the Sase mine in 1850 did this land come to life, did the Sass miners discover the foundation of the monastery in 1858, and the temple itself was restored and served as the Parochian church, mainly the Bratunach parochia. The next renovation of the monastery was launched in 1989. During the period of hostilities (1992-1995), the Muslim troops of Srebrenica (in 1992) even this temple was desecrated and destroyed. The general restoration of the monastery began only in 2002. It can be freely stated that this was also the new construction of the Sase monastery, completed in 2010. The monastery church was consecrated on September 18, 2010. The brotherhood of the Sase monastery is composed of the Father of Methods, the first abbot of this monastery since the monastery was destroyed during the Ottoman Empire and Father Gregory, who have been inhabiting the monastery since 2003.

The monastery church is painted by masters of the icon-painting workshop of Pyotr Bilich from Belgrade. All wood carvings of exceptional beauty are the work of Rade Pantich from Milici. Sase Monastery glorifies the Holy King Stephen Uros V as a patron saint and in this regard, Vladyka Vasily donated to the monastery a particle of the holy relics of King Uros I (a gift from Vladyka Budimlyansko-Nikšychi Mr. Ioannikius) and a particle of the holy relics of St. King Stephen Uros V (a gift His Holiness the Patriarch of Serbia, Mr. Paul) The monastery holds a particle of the relics of St. Nectarius of Aegina, a gift from the Metropolitan of the Montenegrin-coastal city of Amfilohija.

The ruined church was covered with copper sheet, under which was an old roof made of wooden tiles. There is one window in the altar, two windows on the facades and all were completed with small segmented arches. On the west side there was an arched entrance, displaced from the center of the facade on the north side, a stone relief plate, which was installed on the south side from the outside and is an antique double belted portrait. Presumably, this is a tombstone.

A noteworthy quote from Vaclav Radimsky: “On the outside of the eastern Orthodox church in Sasa where there are no windows, two Roman stones from Gradina are built in. One of them - 131 cm high and 62 cm wide - is a tombstone, the inscription field is empty, and the portrait above the belts of one woman and one man holding a scroll. A slightly unfolded pediment is decorated with an ornament similar to the shape of a rose ... (Vaclav Radimsky, “Roman Castle of Domavia at Gradini's code Srebrenica at Bosnia and the Iskopi there” GZM, 1891. br. 1, p. 3 . and 4) For almost 8 centuries of its existence, the monast Even today, the real treasury of Serbian spirituality.