Monastery of Peć Patriarchate

Monastery of Peć Patriarchate

© Zorica Pejović

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The Monastery of Peć Patriarchate is located on the outskirts of Peć, just half a kilometer from the city center.
Patriarchate is a collection of churches, whose construction took place over a period of more than a hundred years, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It is one of the most famous monuments of the Serbian people and it was placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2006.

Saint Sava built the oldest church, the Church of the Holy Apostles, which is proven by one of the church's frescoes. This church was painted in 1250, so the oldest frescoes are from that period.
The Church of St. Demetrius was built between 1320 and 1324, under the patronage of Archbishop Nicodemus. It was painted in 1340, but the original frescoes from that period were destroyed, so they had to be redone in the seventeenth century.
The Church of the Holy Virgin Hodegetria was built in 1330, under the patronage of Danilo II. Seven years after the construction, the church was painted and you can see the representations of its patrons on the walls. It is built of pink marble.

Saint Nicholas is the smallest church of this monastery complex and it was built between 1330 and 1337, under the patronage of Danilo II. It was built of brick and stone. The frescoes were made in 1677.
This monastery is of paramount importance not only for the spiritual world of Serbia, but also for its culture in general, since it symbolizes the Serbian people.