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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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Mileševa Monastery, Church of the Ascension of Jesus Christ
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The Mileševa Monastery is situated near Prijepolje in South-Western Serbia. The Monastery's Church of the Ascension of Jesus Christ was built by the Serbian King Stefan Vladislav (reigned 1234-1243) in 1234 (Teodosije 178; Domentijan 6). Regarding its ground plan, this church resembles Žiča Monastery, therefore it belongs to the Raška style. In 1236 Saint Sava (ca. 1175-1236) died in Veliko Tărnovo. In 1237 he was buried in the exonarthex of the Mileševa Monastery, at which point his cult started to evolve. It is a single nave edifice with a semicircular apse with two bays, a dome and a narthex. Above the Eastern bay is a dome, and on its sides are rectangular choirs. In 1228 the proskomedia and diakonikon were added, probably modeled by the Žiča Monastery. The church widens from the West to the East and ends with three altar apses leaning directly on the domed Eastern wall. The exonarthex was built by the same builders, who constructed the exonarthex and a tower of the Studenica Monastery. It has a catehumeneon and two side chapels, a dome and no windows (in accordance with its purpose). The entire church was lavishly decorated with frescoes and sculpture (especially around the portals and windows). Frescoes in the nave, narthex and exonarthex are dated to the 1230s and 1240s. In the 16th century the church was repainted. In the exonarthex are famous frescoes with scenes of the Last Judgement, purposefully designed by Saint Sava, while he was preparing a grave site for himself. In 1594 the Ottomans took away the relics of Saint Sava and burnt them on the Vračar plateau in Belgrade, probably on the site where today the Church of St. Sava and the National Library of Serbia stand.
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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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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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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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