Morača Monastery
The Monastery Morača ( Serbian - Cyrillic Манастир Морача ) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery in central Montenegro . The monastery was founded in 1252 by Prince Stefan, a son of Vukan Nemanjić and grandson of the founder of the medieval Serbian ruling dynasty of the Nemanjids , Stefan Nemanja . Together with the Ostrog Monastery and the Piva Monastery, the Morača Monastery is one of the most visited cultural and religious sites in Montenegro.
location
The monastery is located on the upper reaches of the Morača , a few kilometers north of the Morača Gorge ( Morača klisura ), on the European route E 65 / E 80 , the main artery from Podgorica to Kolašin and on to Serbia .
description
The Morača Monastery consists of the main church dedicated to the Dormition of Mary , a small chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas and the residential building with the monks' cells , which were also used to accommodate pilgrims. The entire complex is surrounded by a high wall. The monastery enclosure can be entered through two gates.
The one nave main church with a vestibule is in the style of the Raška school . The original furnishings of the monastery suffered badly when the Ottomans looted the monastery at the beginning of the 16th century : the lead covering of the roof was removed, the interior of the church was exposed to wind and weather, the monastery was deserted. It was not renewed until 1570. In the 18th century, the monastery was the focal point of the battles against the Ottomans by the inhabitants of the Morača Valley and neighboring tribes. In 1820 Montenegro became free.
The portal has survived from the Romanesque period , as well as some frescoes from the 13th century, which depict the life of the prophet Elias on several panels . Other frescoes date from the 16th and 17th centuries. In the vestibule, a depiction of the genealogical tree of Jesus takes up an entire wall; other depictions show the Last Judgment . The main themes of the frescoes in the main room are the life of Jesus and depictions of the most important saints of the Orthodox tradition.
The Morača Monastery has an extremely rich collection of icons from the 17th and 18th centuries. Part of it adorns the splendidly carved iconostasis , which was created between 1600 and 1617.
The monastery complex also includes a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas, which was built around 1635 on the foundations of the former main defense tower. Hence the square floor plan without an apse visible from the outside and the fact that the chapel does not face east-west. The chapel is richly painted inside and outside with frescoes, most of which depict scenes from the life of St. Nicholas.
Entrance portal in the monastery wall
Bell cage and side chapel
Residential buildings
Exterior views and floor plan
Web links
Coordinates: 42 ° 46 ′ 5 ″ N , 19 ° 23 ′ 30 ″ E