Manastir Moraca/Monastery Moraca 2010

The monastery Moraca was raised on the right bank of the River Moraca, not far from Kolasin. This church was built in 1252 by Stefan Nemanja, son of king Vukasin, and grandson of Nemanja, which can be seen on the inscription, which is situated above the doors on the west entrance. This mystical sacral edifice is surrounded, like a medieval fortress, with high stonewall inside which there are sleeping quarters which can tell you some legend from this area. According to one legend, which is present among the local people, this monastery was made of special yellow stone, which is found in the area very far from the place where the monastery actually is. According to this legend people from this area made a column, which was tens of kilometers long, and in that way turned the stone from hand to hand from the place called Tusine, the place where the stone was located, to the present monastery Moraca.
The monastery complex is made of Synod church Uspenja Bogorodice (Uspenje – Falling into sleep, Falling into Sleep of Holy Mother of God), small church of Sveti Nikola (St. Nicolas), as well as of sleeping quarters building. Synod church is big and has one transept. It was made in style of Raska churches, with a half circle apsidal and dome and in difference to the churches, which have been made in coastal style; the walls of this church have been rendered. Main entrance is made in roman style.
Beside the architecture, which is characteristic for this monastery, what is also interesting is the painting of the monastery. Artistic beauty of the monastery is far famous, mainly because of the frescoes with which it has been painted. By the period of origin frescoes date from two periods. Ones were painted in XIII century and the others in two periods in XVI and in XVIII century. “Gavran hrani proroka Iliju” Raven feeds prophet Ilija) made in XIII century is the oldest and the most famous fresco of the Moraca monastery which is just a part of the series of frescoes with which the life of this saint prophet Ilija is being described. Today it is preserved in fragments and it represents “the only example of this cycle in monumental medieval painting”. Along this one, other famous frescoes from this creative period are frescoes “Pomazivanje careva i proroka” (Ointment of prophets and emperors), `”Rodjenje Svetog Jovana krstitelja” (The birth of St. Jovan the baptizer) and others. Frescoes from XVI century are the biggest preserved entity of the monastery wall painting from this period in these areas. In XVII century frescoes around main monastery doors were done by Georgije Mitrofanovic, “zoograph from the Hilandar Monastery”, one of the biggest masters of all times. This master founded also the painting workshop in the monastery whose influence started to spread quickly in these territories.
Moraca painting school is considered to be one of the greatest achievements of Byzantine art. It stands out with fine feeling for regular ratio in proportion, figures dominate in one non – hierarchy relationship, and thick lines with mild movements are noticeable. As for the colors, Moraca painting has surpassed Studenica and Milesevo painting especially in color tone modeling. Frescoes in Moraca show the victory of the so-called plastic style with which it takes the pioneer role when we are talking about painting in these areas in general.
Along with frescoes especially beautiful are icons which are placed next to the iconostasis, and which were made by the greatest masters of XVIII century. The icon of Sveti Sava (St. Sava), and the icon of Sveti Luka (St. Luke) are considered to be the most valuable pieces of icon drawing on Balkan Peninsula. Several antiques and relics such as hand of Sveti Haralampije (St. Haralampije)  engraved crosses, baptistery made of marble and a rod, which according to a legend belonged to Sveti Sava. Special place among precious things has the cross in the altar made in XVI century in walnut tree, which according to a legend was being made for 11 years.

The monastery itself will give you an unforgettable experience if you visit it.

Walk through forest preserve in our neighborhood/Setnja po komsiluku-Zvezdarskim sumama

One beutiful November afternoon in Belgrade. Right outside our building...love that.

Manastir Mileseva/Monastery Mileseva Oct 2010

Mileševa (Serbian Cyrillic: Милешева) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located near Prijepolje, in southwest Serbia. It was founded by King Vladislav, in the years between 1234 and 1236. The church has frescoes by the most skillful artists of that time, including one of the most famous in Serbian culture, the "White Angel", which depicts an angel on Christ's grave.
The Mileševa monastery was founded between 1234 and 1236 by Serbian King Vladislav. The monastery is situated in a valley of the Mileševa river, near Prijepolje. Mileševa is one of the most important Serbian sanctuaries and spiritual centers. In 1236, Vladislav moved the relics of his uncle Saint Sava from Trnovo in Bulgaria, where he died, to Mileševa. The second important event took place in 1377, when the coronation of Tvrtko I as the King of Serbia and Bosnia took place in Mileševa. In the fifteenth century, the monastery was the seat of the Metropolitan Bishopric of Dabar and Bosnia. In 1459, the Turks set the monastery on fire, but it was soon restored. In the first half of the sixteenth century, the first service books were illuminated in Mileševa. One of the oldest schools also existed in the monastery. In the middle of the century, during the time of Patriarch Makarije (the Serbian Patriarchate was restored in 1557), the monastery was thoroughly renovated. Its exoternal narthex was built and painted, and probably cut through the wall between the narthex and the nave. In later times, after several Turkish demolitions, a new restoration was undertaken in 1863, when the church considerably changed in appearance.
The Mileševa monastery has been visited by pilgrims and donated to by Russian Emperors (Ivan IV the Terrible) and Valachian and Moldavian rulers. In 1594, the Turks removed the relics of St. Sava from the monastery and publicly burned them on Vračar hill in Belgrade, making him thus a posthumous martyr.
The Church, dedicated to the Ascension of Our Lord, architecturally belongs to the Raška School. Its ground plan is unique. Its single nave widens from the west eastward, so that the eastern bay is omitted completely, which results in the three altar apses leaning directly on the domed east wall. Inside, the dome is raised on several arches in a stairway-like arrangement. The narthex was added in 1236 upon which, during a nineteenth century restoration, a dome was constructed on top.
The first group of frescoes were produced in the 1230s. The other groups include works from the Turkish period, to be found in the exonarthex. These thirteenth century frescoes may be considered to be the supreme achievement of all the painting in Europe of that time. The portraiture deals with bishops (altar space), warrior saints and martyrs (nave), as well as monks (narthex). The upper registers in the narthex represent Christ's earthly life. Below the resurrection composition on the south wall of the west bay, King Vladislav is depicted as being led to Christ by the Mother of God. The Nemanjić family is portrayed in the northeastern part of the narthex: Stefan Nemanja as the monk Simeon, Sava as the first archbishop, Stefan the First-Crowned as king, and his sons Radoslav and Vladislav. The frescoes in the narthex and the adjacent chapel were presumably painted in the 1230s and 1240s. They illustrate the last Judgment and the lives of some saints. In the second half of the sixteenth century, the church was repainted with a new layer of frescoes of which only fragments of the Last Supper under the dome and the Forty Martyrs in the north choir have survived. These frescoes were damaged in a fire, but they happened to save (acting as a protective layer) the earlier and more valuable paintings from the thirteenth century.

Манастир Милешева је српски средњевековни манастир. Налази се на шестом километру од Пријепоља на реци Милешевци. Задужбина је Краља Владислава Немањића сина Стефана Првовенчаног, а унука Немањиног. Сазидан у XIII веку. Ако се повежу историјске вести и сведочанства на фрескама зидање и сликање Милешеве ставља се у доба између 1219. и 1235. године. Зидан je у рашком стилу по угледу на раније владарске задужбине Студеницу и Жичу.У припрати, коју је краљ Владислав доградио 1235. године, положио је мошти свог стрица светог Саве. Њих су Турци 1594. године приликом освајања пренели на Врачар (Београд) и спалили, у покушају да сломе српски дух.
Милешевске фреске су врло високог уметничког квалитета. Сликари које је краљ Владислав позвао да живопишу цркву били су Грци, школовани у неком великом центру Византијског Царства, у Цариграду, Никеји или Солуну, где је негован рад у мозаичкој техници. Живопис у наосу и олтару настао је по жељи Светог Саве, по свему судећи пре 1228. године. Студеничка пракса имитације мозаика настављена је и још више развијена овде у Милешеви. На златној позадини са исцртаним квадратићима урађен је дворски "жути живопис" у наосу и једна композиција изнад улаза из припрате у храм, док су фреске у олтару и припрати рађене на плавој основи без квадратића. Интересантно је да распоред композиција Великих празника одудара од уобичајене шеме, заправо поређане су обрнутим редом, здесна налево и одоздо навише. Тако су се поједине сцене нашле на неуобичајеном месту: Причешће апостола високо под куполом (Христос у средини је једном насликан, као у Св. Софији у Охриду), Сретење на два западна пиластра и то Богородица с Богодететом и Јосиф на једном, а Симеон и Ана на другом; Благовести су као пандан Сретењу на источном пару пиластара, само што је анђео на левом и креће се према Богородици слева надесно, уместо обрнуто.
Фреске Милешеве се убрајају међу најбоља европска остварења 13. века, а од њих најпознатији је Бели Анђео. Поред Белог Анђела друга ремек дела су Богородица из Благовести и Ктиторска композиција са портретом краља Владимира. Ова дела такође представљају и највеће домете сликарства тог доба у Европи.
Манастир је данас седиште епископије Српске Православне Цркве на чијем је челу епископ Филарет Мићевић, под чијим су руководством окружење манастира и манастрски конаци добили изузетно сређен изглед. Милешева је једно од најзначајнијих духовних и уметничких средишта српског народа. Велики значај у народу је стекао после преношења моштију Св. Саве из Трнова 1236. године. Више од три века био је гробница Светог Саве.
У Милешеви је 1377. године крунисан краљ Твртко I Котроманић за краља Босне и Србије. Милешева се у то доба налазила на територију његове државе.
После смрти Св. Саве, краљ Владислав је око 1236. године уз милешевску цркву доградио спољну припрату с бочним капелама и у њу је, после преношења из Трнова, положио мошти Св. Саве. Тада је настао и живопис ове спољне припрате. Сви зидови су били прекривени сценама Страшног суда. На источном зиду на жутој позадини је централна сцена - Деизис: Христос на престолу, с Богородицом и Претечом, окружен анђелима и апостолима; грешници на јужном зиду су на црвеној позадини а праведници у рају на северном зиду, на плавој позадини; свуда је исликавањем квадратића подражаван мозаик. Ове фреске су радили домаћи мајстори угледајући се на старије сликарство наоса.