Nova Ravanica - Vrdnik Monastery

Nova Ravanica - Vrdnik Monastery

© Nenad Glišić

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Nova Ravanica Monastery, also known as the Vrdnik - Ravanica Monastery adorns the southern slopes of Mount Fruška Gora. It is 20 miles south of Novi Sad Regional Road and 80 km northwest of Belgrade by motorway.

Vrdnik- Ravanica Monastery is one of the most important monasteries of Fruška Gora. Its history and the date of its construction are unknown. The first written record dates back to 1589, although it is considered to be much older. This monastery was built in the period between the 15th and 16th centuries, under the patronage of Metropolitan Seraphim. At the end of the 17th century, Vrdnik -Ravanica Monastery was renewed by the monks who migrated from the Ravanica Monastery and they dedicate it to the Resurrection of Christ, which was also glorified in the monastery from which they have migrated.

The monastery got its today's appearance in the period between 1801 and 1811, and apart from the church and the tripartite dormitory, it includes a Baroque bell tower and a porta (entrance space). Lodgings for visitors, konaks, are one of the most beautiful ones on the Mount Fruška Gora and nuns maintain them.

The original church was built in honor of St. John the Baptist and the newly built one is dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ.
Marko Vujatović hand-carved the iconostasis between 1809 and 1814 and Peter Cortanović gilded it. It consists of as much as 42 icons.

The relics of Prince Lazar laid in the monastery’s reliquary. They are not kept here anymore, although a part of the bone is preserved in a glass-covered reliquary next to the former reliquary.
In addition to those, the church preserves the relics of the Holy Martyr Anastasius that date back to the 3rd century and a particle of the Holy Sepulchre.