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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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Gradac Monastery, Church of the Annunciation of the Holy Mother of God
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The Gradac Monastery is situated in the region of Ras on the river Ibar and on the slopes of Mount Golija. It was founded by the Serbian Queen Jelena Anžujska (ca. 1230-1314), as stated by her biographer the Serbian Archbishop Danilo II (ca. 1270/75-1337) (Danilo 75-80). She was buried in this church in 1314. Even though the church belongs to the Raška style, it also has very distinct gothic elements. As such, this church represents a fine example of Western and Eastern influences merged in one edifice. It is a single nave edifice with an octagonal dome. The narthex has two paracclesions that resemble the Žiča Monastery, but also the Studenica Monastery (as seen in one paracclesion which is dedicated to St. Simeon Nemanja and in the arrangement of certain painted themes). Under the roof is a series of arcades with consoles. The church has rich sculptural and fresco decoration. The largest part of the interior of the edifice is made of marble (especially visible in the altar screen). Out of two marble sarcophagi, one belongs to the Serbian Queen Jelena Anžujska.
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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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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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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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