| Since there is no Islamo-Fascism or Kosovo / Serb Conflict area on this forum website I figured to post it here in the Post 9/11 section since it is relevant to the current day.
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1. The Monastery of the Holy Trinity was built in the 14th century on the Rusinica hill above Musutiste, 2 km to the south. The building, which dated back to the year 1465, housed a valuable collection of manuscripts from 14 th to 18 th centuries. There were also a hand-written apostle from the 14 th century and a collecton of icons from the 19th century-1868-1985. The monastery was plundered, burnt and then levelled with the ground by explosives.
2. The church of the Holy Virgin Odigitriya, in Musutiste, was built as a foundation by Dragoslav, the then chief court governor of the estate, and his family, in 1315, about 10 km to the south-east of Suva Reka. The founder's inscription above the entrance was one of the oldest and most beautiful Serbian epigraphic texts of its kind. It was a building with a semi-dome, an inscribed cross in the ground plan and had a semi-round apse. The wall was built of alternating rows of bricks and stone cubes. The frescoes of the Musutiste School, painted between 1316 and 1320 and famed for their plasticity and the saints' typology were known as the best examples of Serbian art. That earned them a place in the company of other mature artistic works of the Paleologists era from the first quarter of the 14th century. The altar area contained a unique portrait of a South-Slav educator, St Clement of Ohrid. In the north-western corner of the naos there were figures of holy women, the warriors St Theodore Tyre and St Theodore Stratilates, angels, and St Paneteleimon. Two throne icons of Christ and The Holy Virgin dated back to the year 1603. Accompanying items were plundered, burnt and consequently mined.
3. The medieval monastery of St Mark of Korisa used to stand on a rocky outpost above the Korisa river, 3 km southeast of the village of Korisa. The church was built in 1467 with a single-nave, a rectangular foundation and a preserved fragment of the original, ancient fresco. On the western side, above the rock, a belfry with two bells was added in 1861 thus becoming a foundation of Sima Andrejevic Igumanov. In April 1941, the Kabasani Shqiptars forcibly tore out the bells and repeatedly desecrated and vandalized the founder's grave. The monastery housed a major book collection. It was robbed and burnt prior to having been completely destroyed by explosives.
4. The monastery of St Archangel Gabriel, also known under the names of Binac and Buzovik, was built in the 14th century. It was located some 4-5 km south of Vitina, at the spring of the river Susica. The church had a rectangular foundation, a semi-round apse and a semi-cylindrical vault. There were two layers of frescoes, one on top of each other. The newer layer, from the 16th century, showed archbishops at liturgy. In 1867 Albanians slaughtered the priest. After that the monastery stood abandoned only to be renewed at the beginning of the 20th century. A number of the 14th century liturgical vessels were kept in the church. The Monastery was first looted and set on fire. On September 13 the monastery church was completely destroyed by explosive.
5. Devic monastery -Drenica (south of Srbica)- the church of the Presentation of the Holy Virgin was built around the year 1434 by the Despot Djuradj Brankovic to commemorate his daughter Devica's recovery from an illness and was named after her. (The name Devica is congruent with the word devica, which means virgin). It was built on the original site where St Joannicius's, the first founder, small church once stood. The monastery was restored on several occasions and consisted of a number of churches dedicated to the Presentation of The Holy Virgin, St Joannicius and St George. The monastery used to have four churchs that, together with the konaks (residential quarters), were looted, desecrated, mined and destroyed by the Shqiptars terrorists in 1941 when the Italians occupied Kosmet. The monastery used to house a rich collection of manuscripts and printed books. There was also a scriptorium within the monastery complex. The entire ancient, as well as the 19th and 20th century, Devic books, including the iconostasis with icons, were lost in a fire. At the same time the recluse of St Joannicius of Devic, on the hill north of the monastery, was wrecked as was the spring in a ravine below the monastery. The frescoes dated from the 15th century. Beside the portrait of St Joannicius of Devic, clad in a senior monk's robes and bearing a preserved inscription which indicates that he was "the first founder of the place" preserved were also an image of St Akakios and the compositions of The Wedding in Kana, Galilee and The healing of the Infirm. There was also another layer of frescoes from the 15th century, as well as one from the 19th century. The monastery owned the lands in Lausa, Ludovic, Lepina in Kosovo, Bica in Metohija, a vineyard in Velika Hoca, a number of houses and shops in Vucitrn, watermills, residential quarters, a bakery, a dairy……60 hectares of arable land and 250 hectares of forest in total. In the morning twilight on 15th June 1991, neighbours until recently, the self-proclaimed UCK, barged into this shrine. The horror that the nuns and their spiritual guide, Fr Seraphim, were put through lasted two days. The monastery was vandalized, desecrated and looted.
6. The Monastery of St Uros, with the Church of the Ascension of The Holy Virgin, was built by the Empress Helen at the end of the 14th century, uphill and west of Gornje Nerodimlje, in the small village of Sarenik. In 1647-49 Patriarch Paisios bequeathed the manuscript of the hagiography of the Emperor Uros to the monastery. The monastery was mined and destroyed.
7. The Monastery and the Church of St Archangels, in Gornje Nerodimlje, were built in the 14th century and renewed in the year 1700. The monastery was burnt and looted. 7.1. A giant black pine tree, planted in 1336 by Tsar Dusan himself, was cut down and burnt. 7.2. The cemetery was desecrated and the tombstones were knocked over and vandalized.
8. The new church of St Nicholas of the Summer, in Gornje Nerodimlje, was built on the ancient foundations in 1983. It was a single-nave building with an altar apse and a smallish dome. In front of it, facing west, there stood a one-hundred-years-old oak tree where the congregation used to gather even in the times when the church was in ruins. The church was vandalized, burnt and mined.
9. The Church of St Stephen In Donje Nerodimlje, in the river Nerodimka valley, 5 km west of Urosevac from the 14th century, renewed in 1996. It was vandalized, burnt and finally mined in summer 1999, after the war and NATO deployment.
10. The monastery church of The Holy Virgin (also known as the Holy Innocent) was built in Dolac near Klina. The church was a single-nave building, rectangular at the foundations, with a semi-cylindrical vault and a semi-round apse. Two layers of frescoes were preserved. The more recent one dated from 1620 while the older, found underneath, was from the 14th century. These were roughly restored, especially those found in the lower zone of the southern wall. Fragments of an old fresco were known for their very fine drawings and colour nuance. Similar features could be found in the later date fresco, dating from the 17th century. This church was believed to be older than Decani and to have been built four years before the Battle of Kosovo (1389). A precious Evangelical Book with Four Gospels from 14th-15th century and an Oktoih for I-IV voices from the 15th century were once housed in Dolac. The church, with the holy throne being pulled down and the whole place set on fire, was consequently mined and destroyed by explosives.
11. The church of St Nicholas, in the village of Slovinje near Lipljan, was built in the 16th century, pulled down in the 19th century and renewed in 1996. On 17th July 1999 it was levelled to the ground by explosives.
12. The new church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was built in 1938, on the eastern outskirts of the town of Suva Reka. It had a dome and a belfry. The church was first plundered, vandalized and then razed to the ground on 19th July 1999, at 1 a.m.
13. The church of the Holy Trinity in the village of Petric, on the Pec-Pristina road, was built as a foundation of the Karic Brothers in 1992. The church was looted, dynamited and razed to the ground with explosives.
14. The church of the Presentation of The Holy Virgin, in Bijelo Polje near Pec, was built in the 16th century and restored in 1868 under the auspices of the Empress of Russia, Maria Alexandrovna. A collection of ancient icon, books and liturgical vessels was kept in the monastery among which particularly stood out a 15th-16th century Italo-Cretan icon of The Holy Virgin with Christ.
15. The cathedral church of Holy King Uros, in the city of Urosevac, was built between 1929 and 1933, to the designs of the architect from Skopje, Josif Mihailovic. The icon collection, belonging to the medieval period of Serbian icon painting, also included the 1896 Holy Trinity icon painted by the zoographer Josif Radevic from Lazaropolje. The church had votive discos from 1909, a censer and several bells donated by the women of Kragujevac in 1912. The church was vandalized and the interior was burnt.
16. The church of St Elijah in Vucitrn, was built in the year 1834 on the eastern outskirt of the city, at the site where some previously buried holy relics had been discovered. The wall paintings were made in 1871, by the zoographer Blaza Damnjanovic from Debar. The church was looted, vandalized and partially burnt.
17. The church of St John the Baptist, in Samodreza near Vucitrn, entered the legends as "the white church of Samodreza" in which saint King Lazar gave Holy Communion to the Serbian knights on the eve of the Battle of Kosovo (1389). The new church, made from blocks of white marble and to the designs of A. Deroko and P.Popovic, professors of Belgrade University, was erected on the foundations of an old church, in 1932. The famous poet and painter Zivorad Nastasijevic painted the frescoes in the new church in the same year. The Shqiptars desecrated the church and damaged the frescos in 1981. The church was first vandalized, then burnt and finally destroyed.
18. The Church of St Paraskeva, in Drsnik near Pec, was at one time devoted to St Nicholas. It was a single-nave building, of rectangular foundation, with a semi-cylindrical vault. There was a semi-round apse facing east. The church had a gable roof covered in stone slates. The wall consisted of irregular layers of stone and plaster. The old frescoes were considerably damaged. The church was restored during the seventh decade of the 16th century. Preserved was an icon from that period, remarkable for its fine drawing and strong colours. The technique was good and in spite of constant rain and snow, as well as other mishaps that they had been exposed to, the frescoes retained their quality rather well. Two marble crosses were elaborately dressed and placed on the eastern and western roof vertices respectively. The church was vandalized and the inside was burnt.
19. The Church of The Holy Virgin, in the village of Naklo
20. The Church of the Holy Trinity, in the village of Velika Reka near Vucitrn
21. The Church of St Apostles in Petrovac, near Kosovska Kamenica
22. The Church of The Holy Virgin, in the village of Podgorce
23. The Church of the Conception of St John the Baptist
24. The Church of The Holy Virgin in Djurakovac
25. The Holy Trinity Cathedral in
26. The Church of St Nicholas
27. The Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Bistrazin
28. The Church of St Demetrios in Siga, near Pec
29. The Church of St Elijah in the village of Zegra
30. The Church of St Cosma and Damian
31. The Church of the Presentation of The Holy Virgin, in Veliko
32. The 14th century Zociste Monastery
33. Church of St John in Grmovo
34. The Church of St Nicholas, in the village of Kijevo in Prekoruplje
35. The Church of St Evangelist Mark, in Klina
36. The Church of St Nicholas, in the village of Ljubizda near Prizren
37. The Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Ljubizda
38. The Church of St Parasceva, in the village of Dobrcane
39. The Cathedral Church of Christ the Savior in
40. The Church of St Elijah
41. The Church of St Basil the Great
42. The Church of St Parasceva
43. The Church of St Nicholas
44. The Church of the Holy Virgin
45. The Church of St Elijah
46. The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul
47. The Church of the Holy Trinity
48. The Church of the Birth of The Holy Virgin
49. The Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Kacanik
50. The Church of the Holy Virgin
51. The Church of St Jeremiah in Grebnik
52. The Church of St Prince Lazar
53. The Holy Trinity Church in Zitinje, near Vitina
54. The Church of St Parasceva
55. The Church of St Lazarus
56. The Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Pomazatin
57. The 14th century Church of St George, in Rudnik near Srbica
58. The Holy Trinity Church in Donji Ratis
59. The Church of the Holy Apostle Luke
60. The Church of St Elijah in Podujevo
61. The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul
62. The Cemetery chapel (paracclesion) was built on the foundations of an old church at the present-day Serb cemetery in Kosovska Mitrovica, at the exit from the city. Crosses and tombstones were vandalized and the chapel damaged inside.
63. The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul
64. The Church of St Nicholas in Prizren
65. The Church of the Holy Saviour
66. The Church of St Elijah
67. The Church of Holy Knez Lazar
68. The Church of St Petka stood once in Binac, 4 km south of Vitina.
69. The Church of St Parasceva stands in Gojbulja
70. The Church of St Nicholas stands in Stimlje
71. The church of St Archangel, on a hill above Stimlje
72. The Church of the Holy Saviour stands in Meciceva Mahala in the Prizren County
73. The Church of St Parasceva
74. The Church of St Archangel, in Musutiste
75. Kosovo Battle Memorial
76. The Church of St. Nicolas in Gornji Zakut village near Podujevo
77. The church of St. Eliah in Cernica village near Gnjilane
78. The church of St. Nicholas in Banjska village near Vucitrn
79. The church of St. Parasceva in Grncar village near Vitina The church was destroyed by Albanian extremists on Good Friday, April 28, in the morning, before the service.
*** The list is still not complete. Many smaller churches and chapels are not easy accessible and there is a fear that they might have been destroyed or desecrated too.
Source: http://www.balkanpeace.org/ | |
