Church of the Assumption of Our Lady (Zrenjanin)
The Dormition Church ( Serbian : Црква Успења Пресвете Богородице, Crkva Uspenja Presvete Bogorodice), also Varoška crkva or Uspenska crkva called, is a Serbian Orthodox church in the northern Serbian town of Zrenjanin . The city of Zrenjanin is located in the autonomous province of Vojvodina .
The parish church, built from 1744 to 1746 in the Baroque style , is the seat of the parish Zrenjanin I-IV in the Zrenjanin deanery of the Banat eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The city's oldest church has stood in the city center for over 260 years and is of great cultural value to Zrenjanin. The church is consecrated to the dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, Mary .
location
The church is located in the east of the center of the northern Serbian city of Zrenjanin. The church is not far from the bank of the Bega , a left tributary of the Tisza , on Svetosavska ulica No. 2.
The children's hospital, two banks, the main police station and a pharmacy are located near the church, and further away the town hall, the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. John Nepomuk, the folk museum, a grammar school, the city library, the main post office and the memorial for King Peter I. Karađorđević .
history
The Dormition Church is the oldest church building in Zrenjanin and was built between 1744 and 1746. The baroque church tower was built between 1757 and 1758. It was built at the time of Empress Maria Theresa . It is one of the few remaining baroque churches from the first half of the 18th century in Vojvodina.
Since the roof of the church was covered with tiles, it survived a major fire in 1807. At that time the church belonged to the Timisoara Eparchy , a modern city in western Romania, and was the only church with ceramic tiles. All wooden houses in the city fell victim to the fire, only a few buildings, including the church, survived the fire.
The church was last renovated in 2000. Floodlights were installed in 2005 so it is possible to see all of the baroque beauty of the church at night.
The Assumption Church is legally protected as a cultural and historical monument by the state. In addition, many valuable liturgical vestments of the priests, church objects and books with leather covers have been preserved in the church. The oldest church registers date from 1746.
Today there are two marble crosses in the churchyard, which were removed from the main Zrenjanine squares during the 1950s and moved to the churchyard. Current priests of the church are Slobodan Čestić, Radivoje Nađalin, Slađan Ristić, Branislav Petrović and the archdeacon Zoran Milanković.
architecture
The elongated single-nave church with a semicircular altar - apse in the east, rectangular choirs on the sides and a narthex above which a church tower rises in the west, was built in the Baroque style. The church building is particularly noticeably similar to the church tower, the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Sremski Karlovci , which was built from 1758 to 1762, but this has two church towers.
The facade decoration of the church is compared to other churches from this period, the most developed is the facade decoration on the west side of the church. The artistic harmony and balance of the west facade, as well as its architectural rigor, was achieved through combinations of pilasters with professionally crafted capitals , semicircular blind niches, columns, arched windows, cord wreaths, rounded gables and profiled eaves. In contrast, there is the artistically and playfully decorated spire.
The decoration of the other facade surfaces, with a dominant vertical division, consists of alternating pilasters and window openings with arches. The creator of the artistic and valuable carvings is not known.
The frescoes in the vault of the church were painted between 1928 and 1930 by the painter Aleksandar Sekulić from Zrenjanin. Sekulić lived in Munich for several years .
Iconostasis
The iconostasis, as well as the icons on it, were made and painted by the well-known and experienced painter Dimitrije Popović . After the great fire in 1807, Dimitrije Popović's work was renewed and continued from 1814 to 1816 by Georgije Popović , a long-time employee of Dimitrije Popović. Georgije Popović painted another 15 icons in the church. It is believed that Georgije Popović also used the oil paint technique to paint seven icons on wood in the church. The icons show scenes from the Old and New Testament on three levels.
In the church choir there is another small iconostasis, which is dedicated to the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas of Myra. The icons on this iconostasis were painted by an unknown painter, probably in the 18th century. The icons in the choir of the church are comparable to those on the iconostasis.
The icons of the ancient tomb of Christ were painted by Georgije Popović in 1821. And the icons on today's tomb of Christ were painted by the painter Jovan Popović in 1861. Since 1951 the icons have been protected as monuments of the Orthodox culture of Serbia.
gallery
View into the choir interior
Fresco painting in the church
One of the two marble crosses
The south entrance of the church
The illuminating church tower at night
West facade of the church
swell
- Article about the church on the website of the Banat Eparchy , (Serbian)
- Entry about the church at www.vojvodinaonline.com , (Serbian)
- Article about the Church on the Spomenici kulture u Srbiji page , (Serbian)
- Article about the church on the side of the town of Zrenjanin , (Serbian)
Coordinates: 45 ° 22 ′ 49.6 ″ N , 20 ° 23 ′ 44.7 ″ E