Church of St. Dimitri the Great Martyr (Šamac)

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The Church of St. Dimitri the Great Martyr ( Serbian : Црква светог великомученика Димитрија, Crkva svetog velikomučenika Dimitrija) in the city of Šamac , formerly called Bosanski Šamac in the north of Herzegovina , is a Serbian Orthodox Church in the north of Herzegovina .

The church , consecrated to St. Dimitri , the Great Martyr , was built between 1925 and 1934 and is the parish church of the parishes Šamac I and II in the Modriča - Gradačac deanship of the Zvornik - Tuzla eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

location

The church is located in the main street, Ulica Cara Dušana 25 , in the western center of the town of Šamac, which has around 5,500 inhabitants, in the Opština of the same name in northernmost Bosnia on the border with Croatia . At Šamac, the Bosna river flows into the Save , which forms the border between the two countries here.

The Opština Šamac is located in the Republika Srpska , the predominantly Serbian part of Bosnia and Herzegovina . The Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is on the opposite side of the street . Not far from the church is the city hospital and city mosque.

history

The old church of the city

In 1879 the first Serbian school was opened in the city. In 1882 the first Serbian Orthodox Church of Šamac was built from this old school, it was located a little east of the present church. It had to be demolished in the early 1920s because of dilapidation.

Construction and dedication of today's church

As Ktitoren (founder) of the new church today are Mara Aleksić and Toso Stavric .

For the salvation of her deceased spouse, Mrs. Mara Aleksić donated 10,000 m² of building land to the parish of the city. Today there is the Serbian Orthodox cemetery of Šamac with the chapel of the Holy Great Martyrs Tsar Lazar and all Serbian new martyrs built between 1993 and 1994 . The old cemetery church was destroyed by Croatian - Bosniak paramilitary units in the Bosnian War in 1992 . The oldest tombs in the cemetery date from the 19th century.

Construction of the church began on June 17th, 1925. On August 9th of the same year, with the blessing of the Bishop of the eparchy Šabac Mihailo (Urošević) in Serbia , the priest Dimitrije Dimitrijević inaugurated the foundations of the church. Bishop Mihailo (Urošević) was in charge of the administration of the Zvornik-Tuzla eparchy at that time.

After nine years of construction, the church was inaugurated on November 25, 1934 by the then bishop of the Zvornik-Tuzla Nektarije (Krulj) eparchy. A valuable Gospel from 1939 that was printed in Russia is kept in the church .

Second World War and Yugoslav Socialism Era

In the Second World War (1939-1945) the church was badly damaged. It was renovated from 1968 to 1970, when the 200 m² parsonage was also built with a large ballroom.

1990s

During the Bosnian War (1992–1995), the Church of the Great Martyr Dimitri was badly damaged by grenades and bullets from the Croatian-Bosniak army. From 1998 to 2000 the church was renovated, at that time a new church floor made of granite stones and underfloor heating was laid, the facade was renewed and the church was given new frescoes.

Balkan flood 2014

The church suffered great damage in the great flood in the Balkans (Balkan low Yvette ) in May 2014. The valuable 26 icons of the academic painter Roman Petrović and church records were badly damaged. The other churches in the parish in the surrounding villages were also badly damaged.

The damage caused to the church amounts to 380,000 Bosnian KM , about 190,000 euros. The repair of the damage is proceeding slowly.

architecture

Style and dimensions

The cross-domed church with the dimensions 18.18 x 16.3 m was built from small bricks in the Serbian-Byzantine style and covered with copper plates . The church has a large main dome in the middle of the nave at the intersection of the side arms of the church and two smaller domes on the west side of the church, symbolizing the Holy Trinity .

The church building has an altar - apse in the east, a conche on the north and south side and a free-standing 37 m high church tower of recent date with four bells. The church tower has the dimensions 12 x 12 m and was inaugurated on November 8, 2007 by the then bishop of the Zvornik-Tuzla Vasilije (Kačavenda) eparchy.

The icons, frescoes and the iconostasis

From 2009 to 2012 the interior of the church was newly decorated by Nikola Đurović from the Serbian town of Kosjerić with Byzantine frescoes on dry mortar. The new iconostasis made of walnut was carved by Simo and Đorđe Krstanović, both from Šamac, based on the design of the architect Bogdan Đukić from Tuzla .

The old artistically valuable icons in the Baroque style of the old iconostasis were painted by the academic painter Roman Petrović from the Bosnian-Herzegovinian capital Sarajevo using the oil on canvas technique. The new icons on the new iconostasis were painted by Nikola Đurović .

Parish life of the parish of Šamac

Church books

The parish registers have been kept since it was founded in 1879. The baptismal records and the books of the married couple have been kept in the same way since then. After the Second World War, the books were stolen by the communist authorities. However, they were later returned, with losses. There is no information on the years 1913–1917 and 1948–1952.

church choir

The church has had its own church choir since 1994. The church choir Heruvimi ( Cherubimi ) celebrates as its Slava , one of the most famous and most important saints of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Saint Vasilije Ostroški the miracle worker . The head of the church choir is the teacher Rade Bosić .

In 2012 the choir won the gold medal in the choir competition for the spiritual festivities of the city of Bijeljina in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina in May .

Charitable and leisure activities

The church-charitable women's organization of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Kolo srpskih sestara , was founded in 1993. Its chairman is Đurđina Bosić and the organization is called Kosovska djevojka in Šamac.

The Youth Community of St. Sava of Serbia was founded in 2008 and takes part in humanitarian aid and spiritual events. The Serbian Falcon Community of St. Basil the Great was founded in 1993 by Priest Jovo Lakić . This community keeps the traditional customs of the Serbs alive. In 2010 an icon painting company was also founded.

Priest of the church

19th century

The priests of the parish of Šamac are listed in chronological order. The first priest was Jaćim Stefanović from 1879 to 1883, in 1883 Đorđe Stefanović and Đorđe Petković were parish priests. From 1893 to 1896 Tošo Đokić was parish priest. He was followed by Stevan Popović from 1896 to 1902 .

20th century

From 1902 to 1933 Dimitrije Dimitrijević was parish priest who was instrumental in building today's church. Priest Dimitrijević was followed by Svetozar Popović and Vojislav Gajić from 1934 to 1938 . From 1938 to 1939 Svitlić served in the parish of Strahinja . There were no Serbian Orthodox priests in the city during World War II. After the war, Svetozar Lazarević from the village of Crkvina served in the parish. He was followed by Dimitrije Blažić .

Stojan Tasić followed from 1950 to 1967 . From 1968 to 1970 was parish priest Sofronije Rakitić . Milan Pajkanović was a priest from 1970 to 1975. Đoko Jović followed from 1975 to 1980. Dragan Kainović from 1980 to 1991.

21st century

From 1991 to 2012 Jovo Lakić was parish priest. And the current parish priest since 2012 is Miodrag Stevanović .

source

Coordinates: 45 ° 3 ′ 37.31 ″  N , 18 ° 27 ′ 55.63 ″  E