Gračanica monastery

Gračanica (pronounced [ɡratʃǎnitsa]; Serbian: Манастир Грачаница, Manastir Gračanica or Albanian Manastiri i Graçanicës) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in Kosovo. It was rebuilt by the Serbian king Stefan Milutin in 1321 on the ruins of a 6th-century early Christian three-naved basilica. Gračanica Monastery was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990, and it is protected by the Republic of Kosovo and considered as a protected monument by the Republic of Serbia because of the unaccepted self declared independence of Kosovo, and on 13 July 2006 it was placed on UNESCO's World Heritage List under the name of Medieval Monuments in Kosovo as an extension of the Visoki Dečani site which was overall placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.^[1][2]

The Gračanica Monastery is one of King Milutin's last monumental endowments. It is situated in the municipality of Gračanica, part of the Community of Serb municipalities in Kosovo. It is located 5 km (3.1 mi) from Pristina.^[3] The monastery is in the close vicinity of Lipljan (ancient Roman town of Ulpiana), the old residence of bishops of Lipljan.

History

Fresco of the founder, Stefan Milutin c 1321.

Gračanica was constructed on the ruins of an older 13th-century church of the Holy Virgin, which was built on the ruins of a 6th-century early Christian three-naved basilica. It was located in the very hart of Eparchy of Lipljan. On the southern wall of the chapel is written the king's charter, including the following words: "I have seen the ruins and the decay of the Holy Virgin's temple of Gračanica, the bishopric of Lipljan, so I have built it from the ground and painted and decorated it both from inside and outside". In 1346, when Serbian Archbishopric was raised to the rank of Patriarchate, bishop of Lipljan was granted honorary title of Metropolitan, and since that time they were called metropolitans of Lipljan or Gračanica.

Of the former monastic compound, only the church has survived. The narthex and the tower were added a few decades later, in order to protect the frescoes on the west facade. The narthex was heavily damaged by the Turks several times between 1379–1383, when the tower was burned and the fire devoured a rich collection of manuscripts and other precious objects. The narthex was reconstructed in 1383. Again, Gračanica suffered damages at the time of the Battle of Kosovo (1389).

During Ottoman rule Gračanica became an important cultural center. In the time of Metropolitan Nikanor (1528–1555) several icons were painted on the altarpiece. Also, because of the printing press, Nikanor obtained numerous service books and objects for the monastic use. The royal doors were commissioned in 1564 by Metropolitan Dionisije, whose death is represented on a fresco in the narthex. Major restoration took place through efforts of Patriarch Makarije Sokolović. All the openings on the external narthex were walled up and new frescoes were completed in 1570. Thanks to Serbian Patriarch Pajsije I, the church got its leaden roofing, and in 1620 the large cross with the Crucifix was made on the iconostasis. The monastery was exposed to new damages toward the end of the 17th century, in the war between Holy League and the Turks, after the second siege of Vienna - in which the Serbs took part on the Christian side. Turks removed the leaden cross and pulled out the floor tiles, together with the treasure hidden in the church by Patriarch Arsenije III.

After the Second World War it was renewed by nuns and has been serving as a convent since. Today there are 24 sisters in the monastery who are active in icon painting, agriculture, sewing and other monastic obediences.

After the Kosovo war of 1999 Bishop of Raška and Prizren Artemije Radosavljević transferred his official seat to this Monastery from Prizren and since then the monastery has become not only the most important spiritual but also the national and political center of the Serbian people in Kosovo.

Architecture

Gračanica represents the culmination of the Serbian medieval art of building in the Byzantine tradition. The church has the form of a double inscribed cross, one inside the other, the inner one providing for a vertical silhouette so as to raise the central dome upwards on a graded elaboration of masses. The dome rests on four free-standing pillars. Above the spaces between the cross-shafts, four smaller domes give a regular structure to the whole crowning complex. Three three-sided apses (the central one being the largest) put a mild distinction on the altar space externally. The diaconicon and the prosthesis are separated by full walls. Between the nave and the narthex there are wide, heavy pillars and the catholicon is on a level higher. The church was built in alternate courses of brick and stone. At the end of the 14th century an exonarthex was added with double arcades, but these were blinded in the 16th century.

Art

Gračanica painted impressionistically by Nadežda Petrović (1913).

Dormition of the Mother of God, fresco from Gračanica, c. 1321. (See also:Palaiologian Renaissance)

In the church three kinds of painting can be discerned. The earliest is found in the nave, whereas two later ones can be recognized in the narthex. The frescoes were painted in 1321–1322. The painting works have been well preserved. The compositions in the nave deal with the earthly life of Jesus and the ecclesiastical calendar.

The focal paintings of Gračanica include the Festival Cycle, the Passion and the miracles of Christ. Inside the narthex, there are portraits of the founders: King Milutin and Queen Simonida, Queen Hélène d'Anjou (king's mother) as a nun and King Milutin as a monk. Of particular importance is the Nemanjić dynasty genealogy, the first ever painted, which starts with Stefan Nemanja and ends with Milutin. Also in the narthex, there is an exhaustive illustration of the Last Judgment. The scenes from the life of St. Nicholas are in the north parecclesion, while the walls of the south one display scenes from the Old Testament and the lives of Christ and the Mother of God. The master painters supposedly were Michael and Eutihije with their assistants.

There are also considerable frescoes from 1570 in the exonarthex, commissioned by Patriarch Makarije Sokolović. There are some paintings in the narthex that date back to the late 14th and early 15th centuries, including the Baptism of Jesus, parts of the Virgin's Acathistus Hymns and the Ecumenical Councils. Two subjects, however, dominate the narthex of Gračanica: the Doxology to the Holy Virgin and the procession of the Serbian archbishops from Saint Sava to Patriarch Makarije Sokolović. A historical composition of the death of the Metropolitan of Gračanica Dionisije covers the southeastern part of the narthex.

The paintings of Gračanica rank highest among the achievements of Milutin's period, characterized by influences of the Byzantine splendiferous and luxurious style called the Paleologan Renaissance. In terms of style, they are also related to the art of the other of Milutin's foundations.

Gallery

• 

  Monastery building.

• 

  Queen Hélène d'Anjou as a nun and King Milutin as a monk, fresco from Gračanica.

• 

  Queen Simonida of Serbia, wife of King Milutin, fresco from Gračanica.

• 

  Last Judgment, narthex c. 1321

Chicago Replica

Third Lake, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, is home to the New Gračanica church and monastery complex, which houses a detailed replica of the Gračanica monastery in Kosovo. The church is dedicated to the feast of the "Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God". Built on land that the Most Holy Mother of God Serbian Association purchased in 1977, the New Gračanica Church and the main building on its grounds were completed and consecrated in 1984.

In popular culture

• Gračanica ... The Golden Apple, a documentary film of series "Witnesses of Time" produced by the broadcasting service RTB in 1989 was created by PhD Branislav Todic and Petar Savkovic, directed by Milan Knezevic, music was composed by Zoran Hristić.^[4]

See also

• Eparchy of Lipljan
• Eparchy of Raška and Prizren
• Studenica
• Žiča
• Mileševa
• Sopoćani
• Visoki Dečani
• Nemanjić dynasty
• Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance
• History of Roman and Byzantine domes

Annotations

References

Further reading

• Ивановић, Радомир (1961). "Земљишни поседи грачаничког властелинства (Land Property of the Monastery Gračanica in Middle Ages)". Историјски часопис (11: 1960): 253–264. 
• Bošković, Đ. Gračanica. Beograd: Društvo prijatelja starina. 
• Ćurčić, S. (1999). Gračanica - istorija i arhitektura. Beograd: Prosveta. 
• Đorđević, A. (2009). "Gračanica kao inspiracija srpskih pesnika novijeg doba - poezija i kultura" (PDF). Baština (27): 87–100. 
• Đorđević, A. (2009). "Gračanica u starim zapisima i natpisima i narodnoj poeziji" (PDF). Baština (26): 115–125. 
• Gluščević, Z. (1989). Popović Ratko, ed. Gračaničko povesmo od zlata. Strašni sud. Priština: Jedinstvo. 
• Milošević, D. (1968). Gračanica. Beograd: Turistička štampa. 
• Popović, J. (1927). Gračanica. Beograd: Mlada Srbija. 
• Todić, B. (1999a). Gračanica. Priština: Muzej u Prištini. 
• Todić, B. (1999b). Gračanica - slikarstvo. Priština: Muzej u Prištini. 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gračanica Monastery.

External links

• Official web presentation of Raska and Prizren Diocese
• Serbian Unity Congress

World Heritage Sites of Serbia
	Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius Stari Ras Đurđevi stupovi Peter's Church Sopoćani Studenica Monastery Medieval Monuments in Kosovo Visoki Dečani Patriarchate of Peć Our Lady of Ljeviš Gračanica Monastery Stećak (with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro)

Cultural Heritage of Serbia
Archaeological sites	Exceptional Importance Great Importance Protected
Cultural Monuments	Exceptional Importance Great Importance Protected
Historic Landmarks	Exceptional Importance Great Importance Protected
Spatial Cultural-Historical Units	Exceptional Importance Great Importance Protected

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Spiritual leaders of the Serbian Orthodox Church   Archbishops 1219–1346 Sava (St.) Arsenije Sremac (St.) Sava II (St.) Danilo I (St.) Joanikije I (St.) Jevstatije I (St.) Jakov (St.) Jevstatije II (St.) Sava III (St.) Nikodim I (St.) Danilo II (St.) Joanikije II (St.)   Patriarchs (since 1346) 1346–1463 Joanikije II (St.) Sava IV Jefrem (St.) Spiridon (St.) Danilo III Sava V Danilo IV Kirilo I (St.) Nikon I (St.) Teofan I Nikodim II Arsenije II 1557–1766 Makarije Sokolović (St.) Antonije Sokolović Gerasim Sokolović Savatije Sokolović Nikanor Jerotej Filip Sokolović Jovan Pajsije I Gavrilo I (St.) Maksim I Arsenije III Kalinik I Atanasije I Mojsije I Arsenije IV Joanikije III Atanasije II Gavrilo II Gavrilo III Vikentije I Pajsije II Gavrilo IV Kirilo II Vasilije I Kalinik II since 1920 Dimitrije Varnava Gavrilo Vikentije German Pavle Irinej   Heads of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Habsburg Monarchy (1690–1920) Metropolitans of Karlovci 1690–1726 Arsenije III Čarnojević Isaija Đaković Sofronije Podgoričanin Vikentije Popović Metropolitan of Belgrade 1718–1726 Mojsije Petrović Metropolitans of Belgrade and Karlovci 1726–1739 Mojsije Petrović Vićentije Jovanović Arsenije IV Jovanović Šakabenta Metropolitans of Karlovci 1739–1848 Arsenije IV Jovanović Šakabenta Isaija Antonović Pavle Nenadović Jovan Đorđević Vićentije Jovanović Vidak Mojisije Putnik Stefan Stratimirović Stefan Stanković Josif Rajačić Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Karlovci 1848–1920 Josif Rajačić Samuilo Maširević Prokopije Ivačković German Anđelić Georgije Branković Lukijan Bogdanović   Metropolitans of Belgrade 1831–1920 Melentije Pavlović Petar Jovanović Mihailo Jovanović Teodosije Mraović Inokentije Pavlović Dimitrije Pavlović   Metropolitans of Montenegro 1766–1920 Sava Petrović Arsenije Plamenac Petar I Petar II Danilo II Nikanor Ivanović Ilarion Roganović Visarion Ljubiša Mitrofan Ban
Serbian Orthodox monasteries Serbia Banjska* Bavanište Bođani Devič* Gračanica* Holy Archangels* Banja Beočin Bukovo Ćelije Crna Reka Đurđevi stupovi Fenek Gorioč* Gornjak Gradac Hajdučica Kalenić Kastaljan Koporin Kovilj Ljubostinja Manasija Mesić Mileševa Nimnik Poganovo Pokajnica Prohor Pčinjski Pustinja Rača Rajinovac Ravanica Rukumija St. Nicholas Sopoćani Studenica Suvodol Tronoša Tuman Vitovnica Bešenovo Divša Grgeteg Jazak Krušedol Kuveždin Mala Remeta Novo Hopovo Petkovica Patriarchate of Peć* Privina Glava Rakovac Staro Hopovo Šišatovac Velika Remeta Vrdnik-Ravanica Holy Trinity St. Melanija Sombor Središte Vojlovica Visoki Dečani* Zemun Žiča Zočište* Montenegro Bijela Beška Cetinje Ćelije Dajbabe Dobrilovina Donji Donji Brčeli Dovolja Dubočica Duljevo Đurđevi Stupovi Gradište Kaludra Kom Kosijerevo Majstorovina Miholjska Prevlaka Morača Moračnik Nikoljac Orahovo Ostrog Piva Podmaine Podmalinsko Podostrog Podvrh Praskvica Reževići Savina Stanjevići Starčeva Gorica St. Nicholas, Obod Vranjina Bosnia & Herzegovina Bišnja Detlak Dobrićevo Dobrun Dragaljevac Duga Njiva Duži Glogovac Gomionica Hercegovačka Gračanica Ilinka Karno Klisina Knežina Krupa Liplje Lomnica Lovnica Moštanica Ozren Papraća Petropavlov Pjenovac Rmanj Rožanj Sase Sokolica Stuplje St. Nicholas St. Basil of Ostrog Tavna Treskavac Tvrdoš Veselinje Vozuća Zavala Žitomislić Croatia Dragović Gomirje Komogovina Krka Krupa Lazarica Lepavina Oćestovo Orahovica Sv. Nedjelje Sv. Petke St. Basil of Ostrog Others Hilandar (Mount Athos) New Gračanica Monastery (USA) Notes * indicate monasteries in Kosovo, which is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Kosovo. List of Serbian Orthodox monasteries
Serbian Orthodox churches Serbia Church of Saint Sava St. Michael's Cathedral St. George, Banovo Brdo Ružica St. Mark's Church St. Basil of Ostrog St. Achillius, Arilje Peter's Church, Ras Cave Church, Lukovo Štava Church Odžaklija Kađenica Lazarica Church Church of St. George, Lukovo Church of Holy Ascension, Krupanj Saint George's Cathedral (Novi Sad) the Assumption, Zrenjanin Our Lady of Ljeviš* Church of the Virgin Hodegetria* Church of St. Elijah, Podujevo* Church of St. Nicholas, Prizren* Mala Gospojina Church* Christ the Saviour Cathedral, Pristina* Montenegro Cathedral of Podgorica Vlah Church Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Sarajevo Old Orthodox Church in Sarajevo Church of the Holy Transfiguration, Sarajevo Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Banja Luka Church of St. George, Sopotnica Church of St. Nikola, Dobrelja Old Church of St. Nicholas, Javorani Croatia Church of the Holy Venerable Mother Parascheva Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Trpinja Church of St. Nicholas, Vukovar Church of Pentecost, Vinkovci Church of St. George, Kneževo Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, Negoslavci Church of Pentecost, Markušica Church of St. George, Bobota Church of St. Stephen, Borovo Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, Srijemske Laze Church of St. Peter and Paul, Bolman Church of St. Stefan Štiljanović, Karanac Church of St. Nicholas, Mirkovci Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, Gaboš Church of St. Nicholas, Jagodnjak Church of St. Demetrius, Dalj Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, Zagreb Church of St. George, Grubišno Polje Church of St. Nicholas, Karlovac Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, Drežnica Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, Štikada Church of St. George, Varaždin Church of the Holy Annunciation, Dubrovnik Orthodox Church in Knin Church of St. Peter and Paul, Tepljuh St. Spyridon Church, Peroj Church of St. Nicholas, Rijeka Church of St. Nicholas, Vrlika Orthodox church of Holy Salvation, Cetina United Kingdom Church of St Sava, Notting Hill, London Church of the Holy Prince Lazar, Birmingham Serbian Orthodox Church, Halifax St. Nicholas, West Wycombe United States Sts. Constantine and Helen Serbian Orthodox Church, USA Trinity Chapel Complex, USA Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church (Jackson, California), USA Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church (Merrillville, Indiana), USA St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), USA Other countries St. Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church (Toronto), Canada Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church, Slovenia Serbian Church in Arad, Romania St. Sava Church, Paris, France Saint Spyridon Church, Trieste, Italy Annunciation Church, Szentendre, Hungary Transfiguration Church, Szentendre, Hungary Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church, Stockholm, Sweden Notes * indicate churches in Kosovo, which is the subject of a territorial dispute between Serbia and Kosovo.
Serbian saints St. Angelina St. Basil of Ostrog St. Danilo II St. Gavrilo Rajić St. Helen of Anjou St. Jovan Vladimir St. Prince Lazar / St. Princess Milica St. Makarije Sokolović St. Maksim Branković St. Nikodim I St. Nikolaj Velimirović St. Peter of Cetinje St. Sava St. Sava II St. Simeon the Monk St. Simeon the Myrrh-flowing St. Stefan Lazarević St. Stefan Štiljanović St. Stefan Uroš St. Stefan of Dečani St. Stefan the Blind St. Stefan of Piperi St. Teodor Komogovinski St. Vladislav St. Vukašin St. Georgije Bogić

Coordinates: 42°35′54″N 21°11′36″E / 42.59833°N 21.19333°E / 42.59833; 21.19333