Studenica Monastery

Studenica Monastery

© Nenad Glišić

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The Studenica monastery is located 40 km from Kraljevo.
This is certainly one of the most important monasteries in Serbia. It was founded by Stefan Nemanja in the second half of the twelfth century, and was probably built in 1196. After the collapse of the Serbian state in 1459, numerous attacks by the Turks followed. The first detailed reconstruction of the monastery was done in 1569, when the frescoes were restored. In the seventeenth century, Studenica suffered severe damage and many of its art objects were irretrievably lost. The church, like many others of that period, and in this area, blends Romanesque and Gothic styles, producing yet another architectural style - the Raška school . It was built in tuff and stone and its facades are covered with plaster. The monastery, in addition to the church built in the fourteenth century under the patronage of King Milutin and St. Nicholas church, has a treasury and a bell tower at the entrance.

The main church of the monastery is dedicated to the Mother of God Benefactress (Evergetida). The temple gets its reputation from the relics of Simeon that Saint Sava moved here in 1206, from Hilandar. Here lie the remains of Stefan the First Crowned and Vukan.
The church was painted at the beginning of the thirteenth century and is the best example of medieval art in painting, with an image of the Crucifixion of Christ done during the 1209.

Konaks were made in the eighteenth century and are now converted into a museum in which the valuable museum pieces are kept, although many of them disappeared during multiple destruction and looting.