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Bar, Church of St. Mark (Franciscan Church)
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The remains of the Church of St. Mark (Franciscan Church) is situated in the city of Bar.
Its a single nave edifice with four bays (similar to the Church C in Ratac). In the central bay was a dome. Its apse is rectangular. On the North side of the Church is a sacristy consisted of two bays, and on the Western side is a chapel of unknown purpose. The ktetor was probably the Queen Helen of Anjou.
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Bogdašići, Church of St. Peter
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The Church of St. Peter is located in Bogdašići near Kotor. It was built on the fundaments of an older church in the year 1269 by Bishop Neofil of Zeta. It is a single-nave Benedictine Church with Gothic vaults, semicircular apse, rectangular chapels in the North and the South and a bell-tower in the West. In the Southern chapel frescoes in Byzantine style have been discovered. The church represents the simplest form of the Raška style. Inside the church in the Southern wall is a Latin inscription naming the artisan Regolus. Beside the church entrance in the West is a Serbian inscription naming the ktetor Neofil and the year 1269.
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Brodarevo, Davidovica Monastery, Church of Epiphany
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The Church of Epiphany in the Davidovica Monastery is situated on the river Lim near Brodarevo. It was built by Župan Dmitar as monk David, the son of Vukan Nemanjić (the Grand Prince of Zeta) and brother of the Grand Prince Stefan, who built the Monastery of Morača Monastery (Kancelarski i notarski spisi, 1278-1301, 65-66; LjS ZiH., I, 119 (43) - Prěstavi se rabь Boži Dimitrije a zovomь Bratko).
The builders and artisans of the church came from Dubrovnik, Desina de Risa with his son Vlaho (as stated in the written documents still preserved), who incorporated Romano-Gothic elements into this church. It is a single nave edifice with three bays and a semicircular apse. Above the central bay is a dome, and above the side chapels are two more. The narthex was added later. Fragments of fresco decoration have remained.
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Budimlja, Monastery of Djurdjevi Stupovi (St. George)
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The Monastery of Djurdjevi Stupovi (St. George) is situated in Budimlja near Berane and was built by Stefan Prvoslav, the son of Tihomir, as his mausoleum between 1170 and 1190. The monastery also served as the see of the Bishops of Budimlja (Rl. 9, 43). (PJ Š Pam., 68 - sьzyda crьkovь ... u Budimlje svetago Geōrgïa; LjS ZiN I, 1029 (286) episkopь Budimlьsky Teofilь ... vь domu svetago velikago Strastotrьpьca Hristova Georgïa).
The church underwent several reconstructions, but its plan remained the same. It is a single nave edifice with three bays and a dome. Later, in the 13th century (certainly by the 1240s), a narthex was added in the West of it with two rectangular-based towers. As most researchers believe, it was built by masters from the Adriatic (as to be seen in the polychromic façade), following the model of Apulian churches. Also, this church is similar in plan with the Church of St. Luke in Kotor.
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Budva, Church of St. Mary in Punta
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The Church of St. Mary in Punta is situated in the old town of Budva. The edifice was built by the Benedictines in 840 according to the inscription on the inner side of the Northern façade. In the 13th century it became Franciscan. It is a single nave edifice with a rectangular apse and a gothic vault and leans against the city walls of Budva. A bell tower was added later above the apse, which lies in the North. In the 17th century further changes were made. The entrance to the church is in the East. The altar of the church once housed the famous miraculous icon of the Madonna in Punta or the so-called "Our Lady of Budva" (13th to 14th centuries). According to the Greek inscription on the icon it was transferred to the Church of St. John the Baptist in 1807 (prior to the siege by the French army), where the icon is still kept today. It is considered to be a miraculous icon, which is protecting the old town of Budva.
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Budva, Church of St. Sabbas
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The Church of St. Sabbas is situated in the old town (stari grad) of Budva and was consecrated in 1142. At that time, St. Sabbas was a patron saint of Budva, whose cult had come to the Southern Adriatic from the East through the Byzantine dignitaries, who had served in the theme of Dalmatia. It is a single nave building leaning against the town wall, vaulted, with the interior divided into three bays. Its facade is constructed with alternating blocks of greyish and rose-coloured stone. The entrance to the church lies in the West.
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Danj, Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary is situated in Danj in the vicinity of Skadar. It was erected in the second half of the 13th century and is a single nave edifice with two bays, a semicircular apse and gothic vaults.
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Gurdić (Kotor), Franciscan Monastery, Church of St. Mary
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The Franciscan Monastery in Gurdić in the city of Kotor was built by the Serbian Queen Jelena Anžujska (ca. 1230-1314) in 1288, when she brought the Franciscans from Dubrovnik to Kotor. Today in ruins (only the foundations remain), it was a single nave edifice with rectangular apse. It probably had a Gothic vault. On the Northern side was a sacristy with an apse (semicircular on the inside and three-sided on the outside. The monastery was ruined by the Venetians in the 17th century.
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Hvosno, Monastery of the Mother of God
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Monastery of the Mother of God in Hvosno is situated 20km from Peć, not for from the village called Studenica, which is why this place is known by the name Studenica Hvostanska or Little Studenica.
This cult place was known from the Early Christian period with the remains of a three-nave basilica that was discovered in its close proximity. During the founding of the autocephalous Serbian archbishopric in 1219, the seat of the sixth (Hvostanska), of the seven Serbian bishoprics, was located here. At that time the Monastery was erected. In the 14th century it became a metropolitan archdiocese. After 1690 (the First Great Migration of the Serbs) this place was abandoned and destroyed. The material from the Monastery was used in the construction of mosques and other buildings.
The building was erected following the plan of the Žiča Monastery, probably around 1220. It was a single nave edifice with three bays and a dome, an apse that was semicircular on the inside and rectangular on the outside and a narthex with two bays. In 1230 (when the temple was about to become a cathedral seat of the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Hvosno), following the ground plan of the Žiča Monastery, two paracclesia were added on the Northern and Southern sides of the narthex, two towers with chapels (each had an apse) and exonarthex with six bays. Some researchers believe there was a catechumeneon at the upper floor of the exonarthex. The Church is in compliance with the Raška architecture.
In the Monastery researchers found remains of the dwelling-house, fortifications, nearby cemetery and a cast bell in which two shrouds were hidden (one from the 14th century and the other from the 16th century, the work of the famous artist monk Longin). Both are being kept in the treasury of the Patriarchate of Peć (Peć Monastery).
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Kotor, Church of St. Paul
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The Church of St. Paul is situated in the city of Kotor. It was built by the citizen of Kotor Pavle Bari in 1263, as stated in the inscription on the façade, also mentioning the Serbian King Stefan Uroš I (reigned 1243-1276) and Bishop Marco of Kotor. The church was remodeled in the 16th century and became a Dominican Monastery. It is a single nave edifice with three bays with groin vaults and a semicircular apse. Today remains of the church of the 13th century are visible beneath the glass floor, and in front of the building is a sarcophagus, where its ktetor was buried.
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Morača Monastery, Church of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God
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The Monastery of Morača is situated in the valley of the river Morača in the Municipality of Kolašin in Montenegro. It was built by Stefan, the son of Vukan Nemanjić (the Grand Prince of Zeta) and grandson of Stefan Nemanja (ZN 17). The katholikon is dedicated to the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God. It is a single-nave edifice with three bays, narthex and a dome. It has a side chapel dedicated to St. Stephen. All major elements of the Monastery of Žiča and the Patriarchate of Peć have merged into this edifice. The main portal is in Romanesque style. The fresco decoration of the 13th century has been poorly preserved (the majority of the decoration was ruined, when the monastery was ravaged by the Ottomans in the 16th century). The church was renovated in the 20th century.
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Peć, Church of the Holy Apostles (The Patriarchate of Peć)
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The Church of the Holy Apostles is situated in the city of Peć. It was built by Archbishop Arsenije I in the middle of the 13th century (even though an inscription on one of the frescoes from the 14th century states that St. Sava initiated the construction). In time, as other buildings erected next to this Church, its shape changed so the original appearance of the Holy Apostles cannot be reliably reconstructed.
The Church belongs to the Raška style and was a seat of Archbishopric (after it was moved from the Žiča Monastery) and later raised to the rank of Patriarchate (1346-1766).
The Church was built on the grounds of an older three nave basilica which was reconstructed and modified to a single nave edifice with a dome and an apse with proskomidia and diakonikon. Side naves became chapels. Nave was elongated and suitable for liturgical purposes. Along its Western part there were once chapels (paracclesions) which were demolished in the 14th century. Today it is a space of rectangular base with a semicircular vault.
Similar solutions are to found in Pridvorica and Davidovica.
Along the South wall of the central bay is a sarcophagus which once housed the remains of Archbishop Arsenije I. Another sarcophagus in the South-West corner of the Church kept the relics of Joanikije II, the first patriarch of the Patriarchate in Peć. The tomb of Archbishop Sava II is located between these two sarcophagi, also placed along the South wall.
The Church was fresco decorated in the 13th century. Western part of the Church was decorated in the time of King Milutin, marking the beginning of a new style, that of the 14th century.
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Pridvorica Monastery, Church of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ
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Pridvorica Monastery is situated in the village of Pridvorica near the city of Ivanjica. It was probably built by a servant who came from the Nemanjić court around 1195. It is a single nave edifice with three bays, an octagonal dome, a three partite apse and a narthex. Next to the Western bay are side chapels. Remains of the frescoes can be seen in the upper zones of the edifice. The church was renewed in the 16th and the 19th century. Interestingly the monastery has its own coat of arms.
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Skadar, Church of St. Nicholas
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The Church of St. Nicholas is situated in the vicinity of Skadar. It was erected by the Serbian Queen Jelena Anžujska (ca. 1230-1314) in 1280. It is a three nave basilica with a semicircular apse. For the needs of Orthodox liturgies the altar space received short bays and was raised one step above the floor of the church. Also, a semicircular niche was found in the Northern nave for the needs of the proskomedia. The church was ruined in the 1960s.
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Skadar, Church of St. Stephen
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The Church of St. Stephen is situated in Skadar. It was first mentioned in 1319, therefore researchers believe it was built around 1300.
Its a single nave edifice with a rectangular apse. It was similar to the Church of St. Mary in Svač, and Franciscan Monastery in Kotor.
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Sopoćani Monastery, Church of the Holy Trinity
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The Sopoćani Monastery is situated near the source of the river Raška in the region of Ras in the vicinity of the city of Novi Pazar. The church was built by the Serbian King Stefan Uroš I (reigned 1243-1276), the son of the Serbian King Stefan Prvovenčani (reigned 1196-1227) around 1260 (PJŠ Pam., 70 - sьzida že crьkovь Sopokjani). The exonarthex and a bell tower were added later, in the first half of the 14th century (resembling the Žiča Monastery). The church is a mausoleum of members of the royal Nemanjić members: the King's mother Anna Dandolo, Stefan Prvovenčani, Grand Duke Djordje and King Uroš I himself. It is a single nave edifice with three bays and a dome and has a three-partite semicircular apse as well as a narthex. On the sides of the narthex are separate chambers. On the outside, the edifice resembles a three-nave basilica (all side rooms, next to the altar, choirs and chapels are placed under one, single-pitched roof), which is also the element that distinguishes this building from the others of the Raška style group. The windows and portals were done by masters from the coastal area in the Romanesque style. The entire church was fresco painted around 1270. After being damaged, the church was reconstructed in the 15th century (at the time some alterations were made). After the Ottoman rule, in the 20th century, this site was reconstructed and renovated.
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Stari Bar, Church of St. George (St. Theodore)
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The Church of St. George is situated in the old town of Bar (Stari Bar) on an elevation called Londža. Beneath the remains of the Romanesque Church of St. George (dated to the 12th century) the remains of an older church, dedicated to St. Theodore, were discovered (probably built in the 5th or 6th century). When the Church of St. Theodore was erected in Stari Bar, a mosaic floor from the triconchos edifice in Novi Bar, which had already been in ruins at that time, was transferred. The older church of St. Theodore was probably ruined in a fire, and a new edifice honoring St. George was erected by Archbishop George of Bar (as evidenced by a tombstone) in the 12th century, thus becoming the see of the Archbishopric of Bar. Both churches were three nave basilicas. The Church of St. George had three apses. Remains of vaults indicate gothic elements. Fragments of stone furnishing and decoration belonging to the altar screen have been found. In 1125, King Grubeša of Zeta (reigned ca. 1118- ca. 1125) was buried in the church. High dignitaries of the Archbishopric of Bar were also buried there, e.g. Bishop Jovan from the time of Prince Vladimir and the Archbishops George, Peter and Sergius, who lived in the period from the 11th to the 12th centuries. The church was turned into a mosque in the 16th century, and in 1881 the church was completely destroyed by a gunpowder explosion or, as some indicate, by lightning (since the church served as an ammunition depot).
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Studenica Monastery, Church of the Holy Mother of God
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The Church of the Holy Mother of God in the Studenica Monastery is situated 39km to the South-West of the city of Kraljevo. It was built between 1183 and 1196 by the Serbian Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja (reigned 1166/68-1196) (Spisi sv. Save 153; Kralj Stefan 9; Domentijan 24; ZSp. 569 V - I u Rasinyi methohь Popovacь, crьkva hramь Vavědenïe prěsvetïe Bogorodica i zaselakï, i selo Vožetinь, selo Rakla i zaseljakь, i selo Pohovacь, i selo Vělika Vruševïca i Podrumi, i povele da prinose vyno trevy rady monastiru). The relics of Stefan Nemanja were brought to Studenica (from the Monastery of Hilandar) making this place the political, cultural and spiritual center of the Serbian realm. Around his tomb are buried - his wife Ana (nun Anastasija), his son the Serbian King Stefan Prvovenčani (reigned 1196-1227), Grand Prince Vukan, Nemanja's grandson Stefan (the son of King Uroš I) and the Serbian King Stefan Radoslav (reigned 1228-1233) with his wife. Therefore, Studenica Monastery became known as the Lavra of St. Simeon the Myrrh-Streaming (Myroblytos). For this reason the church became the model to emulate in the construction and fresco painting of Serbian churches.
It is a single nave edifice with a dome and a three-part altar space, side vestibules and a narthex. The vestibules had a cult purpose, as evidenced by niches in their Eastern walls.
The façade of the Church of the Holy Mother of God is made in accordance with the traditions of Romanesque art (the masons came from the coastal region, perhaps Kotor). Some typically Byzantine details, such as the semicircular arch on the sides of the tambour of the dome and the disposition of the windows on it, are harmoniously integrated into the Western concept of the exterior of the walls. The most impressive Romanesque features of the monastery's katholikon are the friezes of arcades on the upper edges of the walls and the shapes of window openings and portals, i.e. their sculptural decoration. The Western and Southern entrance doors, along with a trifora at the altar, are most prominent example of the rich sculptural decoration of this period in history. Also, the lunette above the Western door is richly decorated with sculptural decoration of the Holy Mother of God with Christ and two Archangels. An inscription on the tympanum of the Western portal is written in Serbian letters, which indicates that the artist(s) were probably Serbian. According to the fragmentarily preserved inscription in the tambour of the dome, it is known that the painting of the church began in 1208 and 1209. The fresco decoration was thoroughly renovated in 1569 by Longin. Around 1230 the Serbian King Stefan Radoslav (reigned 1228-1233), the son of the Serbian King Stefan Prvovenčani (reigned 1196-1227), built an exonarthex with two semicircular chapels on the Southern and Northern sides and perhaps a square tower with a chapel on the upper floor of the main entrance of the monastery.
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Svač, Church of St. John the Baptist
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The remains of the Church of St. John the Baptist are situated in Svač near the city of Ulcinj. Some researchers have suggested that this edifice could have been built by the Serbian King Stefan Uroš II Milutin (reigned 1282-1321) around 1300, although there is insufficient evidence to support this assumption. The preserved Latin inscription on the Western façade, South of the door, testifies that the Church was built in 1300 (MCCC), for the catholics.
It is a single nave edifice with a semicircular apse. Later, above the apse a tower was built marking this edifice as a Cathedral Church. To this type of building belongs also a Church of St. John in Raša in Albania.
The concept and dimensions of the basic space of the Church include the possibility of the influence of the architecture of the first buildings of the Franciscans and Dominicans in medieval Serbia, which would correspond to the end of the 13th century (1300 AD).
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Svač, Franciscan Monastery, Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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The Franciscan Monastery dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary is situated in Svač near the city of Ulcinj and was built by the Serbian Queen Jelena Anžujska (ca. 1230-1314) in 1288. Today in ruins, only the foundations remain, it was a single-nave edifice with a rectangular apse and wooden roof. Fragments of fresco decoration are still visible. In the lunette of the portal of the church, parts of the fresco of the Virgin have been preserved.
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Toplica, Church of St. Nicholas (near Kuršumlija)
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The Church of St. Nicholas is situated in Toplica, near Kuršumlija, in the upper valley of Toplica River. It is the oldest Church built by Stefan Nemanja in Byzantine manner, sometime between 1155 and 1165.
Its a single nave edifice, divided along its length into three parts. with a dome and an apse, also divided into three parts. The dome rises above the squarely designed central bay of the nave. There is a bell tower on the West side of the Church (built probably at the beginning of the 13th century since the building material is slightly different from the rest of the Church), resembling the Church of St. Tryphon in Kotor. The façade is decorated with shallow blind arches.
A tomb inside the Church was probably meant to be Nemanja's gravesite.
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Žiča Monastery, Church of the Ascension of Jesus Christ
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The Church of the Ascension of Jesus Christ in the Žiča Monastery is situated 32km from Vrnjačka Banja and near the city of Kraljevo. It was built by the Serbian King Stefan Prvovenčani (reigned 1196-1227) and his brother Saint Sava (ca. 1175-1236) in 1207 and was finished of 20 May 1221, on the feast of Ascension when the Great Council was held (Teodosije 139-141). It was the see of the Serbian Orthodox Archbishopric since 1219 and a place of coronation of the Serbian Kings (after Stefan had received the royal wreath from Pope Honorius III in 1217 and was coronated in Žiča). It is also a mausoleum of the First-Crowned Serbian King.
The ground plan of the church follows the pattern formed previously in the Church of the Holy Mother of God in the Studenica Monastery with some differences visible at the altar space, making it a model of all future buildings of the 13th century, of the so-called Raška monumental architecture. The church was built in several stages. Firstly, a single nave edifice was erected with three bays and a narthex with a parekklesion on both of its sides, semicircular apse and a dome. The present Western section was separated by a narthex wall until the end of the 13th century, when the wall was removed and the narthex was joined to the nave in a single space. The lateral arms of the transept were erected next to the central bay. After 1220 (but prior to the Great Council in 1221) the prothesis and the diaconicon were added in the altar. By 1230 a spacious exonarthex with a bell-tower was built on the Western side, which has a katechoumemion on the upper floor and a parakklesionon the upper floor of the tower. Another special feature of this church is its façade, which is painted in red. It is believed that the builders came both from Byzantium and the Adriatic. The church was fresco painted by artists from Byzantium. There are two layers of frescoes in the interior: the older one, created around 1220, belongs to the so-called Golden Age of Serbian painting and the younger one, from the beginning of the 14th century, belongs to the painting from the period of the Serbian King Stefan Uroš II Milutin (reigned 1282-1321), created under the influence of the so-called Palaiologan Renaissance style.
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