Rakovica monastery

About

The Rakovica Monastery (Serbian: Манастир Раковица, romanized: Manastir Rakovica) is the monastery of the Serbian Orthodox Church, within the Archdiocese of Belgrade and Karlovci, located in the municipality of Rakovica in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is dedicated to the archangels Michael and Gabriel. Mentioned in the 16th century, the Rakovica Monastery is the oldest holy object in Belgrade, where the regular service is still being held. The central part of the coat of arms of the Rakovica municipality is occupied by the representation Rakovica monastery.

The Rakovica Monastery is located at 34 Patrijarha Dimitrija Street. It is situated on the eastern slopes of the 209-metre-high (686 ft) Straževica hill, 11 km (6.8 mi) south from downtown Belgrade. The monastery is in the valley of the Rakovički Creek, between the Straževica, on the west, and Pruževica hills, on the east. It is surrounded by the neighborhoods of Resnik (south), Sunčani Breg (east), Miljakovac III (northeast), Miljakovac (north) and Kneževac and Kijevo (west).

According to the folk tradition, the monastery named Rakovica was built in the early 14th century, during the reigns of either king Dragutin or king Milutin, who allegedly were also the ktetors. However, there are no historical records that can confirm that. The earliest written mention of the monastery was found in the travel accounts of Feliks Petančić from 1502, under the title of "Ranauicence monasterium". Later on it is also mentioned in the Ottoman sources, in the census register from 1560, among other churches and monasteries around Belgrade. The Memorial, written much later by the monks, mentions king Dragutin as the ktetor.

However, it was predated by an older monastery which was not called Rakovica and which celebrated the Dormition of the Mother of God. The monastery apparently was a big one, having church, konaks and a metochion. It seems to be an important religious location as the monks from other monasteries often gathered here. The church was called Crkva Prevelika. The monastery named Rakovica was located further to the east, above the village of Rakovica (modern Belgrade's neighborhood of Selo Rakovica, not to be confused with the neighborhood of Rakovica where the monastery is today, which is also part of Belgrade). It was situated on the foothills of the Avala mountain, between the villages of Rakovica and Vrčin. The monastery celebrated Holy Archangel Michael. The location of the old monastery in 1560 was confirmed by the Ottoman sources as being near the "village of Hrčin" (Vrčin). It is believed that on this new location, there was a prior church, called the Magnificent Church. According to the myth, the icons themselves selected the new location, as at night they would leave the old monastery on their own, and move to the new location.

Located on the unfavorable place, in the vicinity of the major crossroads and settlements, the monastery was destroyed during the Ottoman advances towards Vienna in 1592 and the national riots in 1594. Because of that and due to constant robbing, the monks relocated to its present location, deeper into the forest. The remains of the old building on its original location in Selo Rakovica (the traces of the walls, the column of the honorable table, etc.) were found. The location is across the modern IKEA department store. People still gather on the location during the church slavas, or major feast days like Dormition of the Mother of God or Archangels' Day [ sr ], even though there is no cross on the lot. No archaeological survey has been done to explore what is located below the ground.

The original Rakovica monastery was mentioned in the charter of the Wallachian Duke Constantin Brâncoveanu Besaraba, from 1701, which says that the monastery was erected and built from the scratch by a good Christian, the late duke Radula, who was the lord of this country ( Wallachia ). It is assumed that it was the voivode Radu I of Wallachia, Prince Lazar's son-in-law., which would place the period of the rebuilding in the 1370s or the 1380s, as Radul ruled from 1377 to 1385. Besaraba donated 100 "large chunks" of salt to the monastery.

There is also a myth that the original monastery was founded by Miloš Obilić in the late 14th century. After the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, the Ottomans burned the monastery down. Only in the 15th century, a local resident named Raka reconstructed the monastery, which was then named after him.

Around year 1600, construction of the Church of the Holy Archangel Michael began. Later, the entire monastery complex developed around it.

Part of the monastic brotherhood joined their fellow Serbs in territories now part of Austria during the Great Migrations of the Serbs in 1690, bringing with them relics and books. Monk Grigorije, from the monastery, played an important role in the diplomatic efforts bringing to the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, between Austria and Ottoman Empire. Doing various favors to the Russian side, the monastery received numerous gifts, including money, church books, icons, etc. The monastery had a joint administration with the Tresije Monastery on the Kosmaj mountain, and apparently was quite affluent at the time, as it was able to finance the reconstruction of the Tresije.

Soon, more wars broke out ( Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718), Austro-Turkish War (1737–1739) ) and the clergy supported the Austrian side. As Serbia remained under the Ottoman rule after 1739, as a result, the clergy and the local population fled to Austria, with almost all relics from the monastery because the monastery was destroyed once more. They settled in the Velika Remeta Monastery, in the Syrmia region. The Ottomans later allowed for a group of monks to return to Rakovica. On 14 September 1739, the merger of Rakovica and Veliki Remeta under one administration was proclaimed. However, as the two monasteries were in two different states, the union never came through and Rakovica continued as a sole monastery. In 1768 Amvrosije Janković painted numerous icons. The wars ended with the Austro-Turkish war of 1788–1791, when the monastery was destroyed again, as the clergy again supported Austrians, so the Ottomans burned it in retaliation, while the abbot of the monastery of that time, Sofronije, was hanged on the elm tree in front of the monastery. The process of slow renovation began.

The monastery was damaged in both the First and the Second Serbian Uprising, 1804–1813 and 1815, respectively. The monks took active participation in the rebellion against the Ottomans.

The most important for the reconstruction of the monastery was the ruling prince Miloš Obrenović (1815–1839; 1858–1860), who buried his infant son in Rakovica. The prince financed construction of the monastic cells, the grand dining room and one of the konaks. The monastery was also helped by Miloš' wife Ljubica Obrenović and his sister-in-law, Tomanija Obrenović. It is now that Tomanija financed construction of the belfry and one of the konaks. Due to he heavy involvement of the royals, Rakovica was called "court's monastery".

In 1905, the monastic school started to work in the monastery, the first of that kind in Serbia. For its needs in 1925, the new building was erected, the so-called "Plato's konak". The building was designed by the Russian architect Valery Staševski in the Serbo-Byzantine Revival style. The school was active until 1932, when it was transferred to the Visoki Dečani monastery in Metohija.

The monastery avoided being damaged in both world Wars. During World War II, Patriarch Gavrilo, for a short period, was held in detention in Rakovica by the occupying German army. Until the war, the area around the monastery was one of the main excursion sites of the Belgraders; the area was surrounded with an old, thick forest, and partially because of the artificial Lake Kijevo. During the war, both the forest and the lake disappeared; the forest was cut while the lake was drained from 1941 to 1947.

From 1947, Rakovica was the seat of the Orthodox theology faculty of the Serbian Orthodox Church. In 1958, the faculty was relocated to the newly finished educational facilities, including the campus, in the part of the Karaburma neighborhood, which today became known after the Serbian name for the seminary, Bogoslovija. As the new location of Bogoslovija was previously a hospital for the children with mycosis, the children were relocated to the Rakovica monastery. The hospital was later moved out but during the existence, the church was fenced by the wire from the konak.

Patriarch German decided to turn the monastery into a convent in 1959. He acquired the sewing machines so that the abbesses could sew clothes and garments for the monastery.

During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, in the process of constant, everyday heavy bombing of the Straževica hill, the monastery was damaged, especially the front wall of the old church, that is, its front wall was damaged again.

In 2002, the church of the Dormition of the Mother of God was built within the complex.

In 2007, archaeological research was conducted at the site of the former building, and further investigations took place from 16 July to 16 August 2008 to test the hypothesis that the structure had been the former monastery building. The report concluded that the expected evidence was not found, stating that the results "were missing," while noting that the presence of a medieval necropolis in the area, as well as remains of an "honourable table", indicate the existence of a sacral structure there, although its material remains have not been confirmed so far.

Though open for visits, after the burial of Patriarch Pavle in 2009, in order to preserve the peace in the complex, the weddings and baptisms are no longer performed in the monastery.