The Studenica Monastery is considered to be the cradle of the Serbian Kingdom. Along with the Athos Monastery Hilandar and the Episcopal Church of the Žiča Monastery, it is one of the three Serbian Orthodox monasteries that bear the honorary title of Lavra. In 1986 the medieval monastery was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Located in a densely wooded mountain basin west of the town of Ušće, which belongs to today's Opština Kraljevo, the monastery has been extremely important since its foundation in the late 12th century and soon became the wealthiest of all Serbian monasteries. In its heyday, the very large complex contained around a dozen churches and palaces and could accommodate a few hundred people within the monastery walls. In the early Middle Ages, Serbia lay between two major power blocs, the Frankish West and the Byzantine East. This forced the Serbian rulers to skilful political manoeuvres. At a time when the Byzantine Empire was weakening, Stefan Nemanja managed to unite the Serbian tribes into a Serbian state. His son, who became known as Saint Sava, served as the first archbishop of the new Serbian Orthodox Church, which became the pillar of the young Serbian state. Stefan Nemanja, who abdicated six years after the founding of the monastery in favor of his second son Stefan Prvovenčani, went to the Hilandar monastery on Mount Athos as a monk Simeon. However, he was buried in the Studenica Monastery.

The center of the complex is the single-nave Church of the Mother of God, which has a dodecagonal crossing dome and whose design served as a model for many other Serbian churches. The rich decoration on portals, windows and consoles is strongly reminiscent of Western European Romanesque and is rarely found in this opulence in Serbian churches. The artistically less important outer porch, which was decorated with frescoes under Stefan Nemanja's grandson, King Stefan Radoslav, slightly hides the beautiful late Romanesque west portal, which is decorated with an enthroned Madonna in the arched field, lions and griffins. The interior of the church is covered with mural paintings from three different eras. The oldest frescoes from the early 13th century are only partially preserved, but they are among the most valuable works of that century. A Greek painter from Byzantium probably worked here, who could not use the complicated mosaic technique of the large Byzantine churches, but found a good substitute with his "painted mosaics". The monumental Crucifixion scene on the western wall, in solemn gold and azure, exudes grandeur; it is the masterpiece of this unknown artist. The most recent paintings in the sanctuary and in the nave - they show the death of Mary and the monastery founder Stefan Nemanja - were created in the second half of the 16th century, when the Ottomans ruled Serbia.

The King's Church, a small Serbian-Byzantine domed building, looks much more modest next to the large Church of the Mother of God. King Stefan Uroš II Milutin had it built as one of his numerous foundations, which are scattered from Serbia to Thessaloniki and Mount Athos to the Holy Land. The two court painters, Euthychios and Michael, decorated the church almost entirely with frescoes depicting the life of the Virgin Mary, which are among the most successful and harmonious of Serbian fresco painting. The well-preserved murals are small, full of details and appear cheerful and full of life: the girl figures on the north wall are particularly graceful, taking part in the introduction of Mary into the temple. On the south wall they check the temperature of the bath water for Maria's son.

Finally, the monastery complex also includes the St. Nicholas Church, built from quarry stone, and only a few of the frescoes from around 1220 have survived: on the western wall the depiction of the entry into Jerusalem and women at the tomb of Christ.

Source: manastirstudenica.rs and Wikipedia

Translated by Google •

Ivan K

September 26, 2023

Fresco paintings are full of life and reflecting everyday way of living in those day. Color of the frescoes is in natural tone without any shine and gold gilding. They are probably made of natural materials found in close proximity of the monastery. If you ride up the mountain from the complex you will come across query where all the grey marble was sourced for the main church fasade.

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