Hll. Apostles Peter and Paul (Smiljan)
The Church Sts. Apostles Peter and Paul ( Serbian Црква Светих апостола Петра и Павла Crkva Svetih apostola Petra i Pavla ) in the municipality Gospić belonging village Smiljan is a Serbian Orthodox Church in the region of Lika in Croatia . The church was built and consecrated in 1765. It is dedicated to the holy apostles Peter and Paul . The church belongs to the Upper Karlovac eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Parish of Smiljan
Smiljan is the seat of the parish of the same name. The parish belongs to the Deanery Lika of the Eparchy Ober-Karlovac. The parish consists of the villages of Smiljan, Bužin , Karlobag , Bogdanić , Ljutaća , Selište , Ponor and Rasovača .
Milutin Tesla, father of the world-famous inventor and physicist Nikola Tesla , who was born in the parsonage next to the church, served in the parish. Besides Milutin Tesla among others, the priest Dimitrije Jerković D. and Matija Stijačić, this from 1935 until April 12, 1941, when he by the Croatian fascist served there Ustasha was led away from the village and tortured later and murdered.
history
The St. Peter and Paul Church was built and consecrated in 1765. The then Eparch Danilo Jakšić had received permission to build the church from Empress Maria Theresa personally in the 1750s.
During the Second World War , the church was set on fire and destroyed by the Croatian fascist Ustasha. At that time the Lika and the village belonged to the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), a vassal state of the Axis powers . It was not until 1990 that the church began to be rebuilt during the times of Socialist Yugoslavia (1945–1992).
Close to the church is a mass grave with the remains of several hundred Serbian civilians from the village who were murdered by the Ustasha on August 2, 1941, Orthodox St. Elias Day. A memorial stone was erected over the grave, which was removed in 1991 by the paramilitary organization Hrvatske obrambene snage (HOS).
The rectory is only a few meters from the church. Because it is Nikola Tesla's birthplace, it was converted into a museum in socialist Yugoslavia . Nikola Tesla's personal belongings are also in the museum. Behind the church is the Serbian Orthodox cemetery of the village, where Nikola Tesla's brother Dane is buried.
swell
- ↑ Momčilo Diklić: Srbi u Hrvatskoj 1945–1991: period potiranja nacionalnog identiteta . Institut za Evropske studije, 2007, ISBN 978-86-82057-39-0 : "У Смиљану, поред Православне цркве, усташе су побиле, на свиреп начин, Свиреп."
Web links
- Information about the church on the website of the Upper Karlovac Eparchy (Serbian)
- Information on the Smiljan massacre on the page (Serbian)
Coordinates: 44 ° 33 ′ 34 " N , 15 ° 18 ′ 30.1" E