Kosovo
and Metohia

Visoki Decani
Monastery is situated in the western part of the UN administered Serbian
province of Kosovo and Metohia. It was built between 1327 and 1335 by the Serbian medieval king
St. Stephen of Decani and was dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord.
The monastery is settled in the picturesque valley of the Bistrica river
surrounded by the mountains and forests of the Prokletije mountain range
It is the largest and best preserved medieval monastery in Serbia. During
its turbulent history the Monastery was an important spiritual centre
with developed artistic and intellectual activities. Although the monastery
buildings suffered damage from the Turkish occupation, the church has
been completely preserved with beautiful 14th century fresco paintings.
Today a young brotherhood of 30 brethren lives in the monastery continuing
the centuries old tradition of the past. The brotherhood has developed
various activities: wood carving, icon painting, book publishing and
is also active in the missionary work. The beautiful monastic services
are served according to the typicon of Mount Athos.

The Brotherhood of the Visoki Decani Monastery, November
2002
larger
image 720x540
The
Monastery has survived after the Kosovo war (1998-2000) and the Brotherhood
today lives as an isolated Serbian Orthodox island among hostile Kosovo
Albanian Moslem population. This holy site survives only thanks to the
protection of Italian forces which have blocked every access to the
monastery. Beside all this the Monastery still attracts many
international
visitors from the UN Mission and KFOR. Thanks to KFOR military convoys
occasionally the monastery is visited also by Serb pilgrims from Kosovo
and Central Serbia.
From
WIKIPEDIA the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decani
Visoki Dečani
Monastery is a major Serbian Orthodox monastery, situated in Metohija,
12 km south from the town of Pec. Its cathedral is the biggest medieval
church in the Balkans which contains the largest preserved monument of
Byzantine fresco-painting.
The monastery was established in a chestnut grove by king Stefan
Dečanski in 1327. Its original founding charter is dated to 1330,
however. Next year the king died and was buried at the monastery, which
henceforth became his popular shrine. The construction activities were
continued by his son Stefan Dusan until 1335, but the wall-painting was
not completed until 1350.
The cathedral, dedicated to Christ Pantocrator and built from blocks of
red-purple, light-yellow and onyx marble, was constructed by
master-builders under the Franciscan monk Vitus of Kotor. It is
distinguished from other contemporary Serbian churches by its imposing
dimensions and obvious Romanesque features. Its celebrated frescoes
comprise some 1000 portraits and cover all major themes of the New
Testament. The cathedral contains original 14th-century wooden
iconostasis, hegumen's throne and carved sarcophagus of king Stefan.
In 2004, UNESCO listed the monastery on the World Heritage List, citing
its frescoes as "one of the most valued examples of the so-called
Palaeologan renaissance in Byzantine painting" and "a valuable record of
the life in the 14th century".
Evaluation by
the World Heritage Committee
http://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/724.pdf
DECANI MONASTERY ON THE UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LIST - STATEMENT BY BISHOP
TEODOSIJE - DECANI ABBOT
UNESCO's
decision to include Visoki Decani Monastery on the World Heritage
List is happy and encouraging news for our entire people, as well
as a great recognition for our monastery, which is a pearl of medieval
Serbian Christian art.
For centuries Decani with its medieval Romanic architecture and Byzantine
Serbian frescoes has been the bridge that connected peoples and cultures,
attesting that the sublimity, spirituality and beauty of artistic
creations supercedes transient values and political conflicts.
Decani continues in this role today. Although a Serbian Orthodox monastery
built by the Holy King Stefan of Decani at the beginning of the 14th
century and a part of the Serbian cultural heritage, Visoki Decani
is also a part of the local cultural heritage of Kosovo and Metohija
and should be the pride and responsibility of all residents of this
region regardless of their ethnicity or religious affiliation.
For this reason we believe that the addition of the monastery of Visoki
Decani to the UNESCO World Heritage List will make it possible to
better protect our holy shrine during these difficult times for future
generations and to serve as a bridge to more easily connect and reconcile
the people living in Kosovo and Metohija. We must all be aware that
spiritual and cultural values supercede political conflicts and that
they transcend narrow national and territorial boundaries. My brethren
and I therefore feel it is a great honor that we have the privilege
of serving God in this holy place despite the fact that we are living
through what may be the most difficult times in the history of this
monastery.
The attitude
toward Decani as part of the world cultural heritage, as well as the
attitude toward other Christian monuments, will be the indicator to
what extent local society is ready to accept European and world cultural
and civilizational values; hence, we expect greater understanding
and support of all people of good will, especially the Kosovo
Albanians. I sincerely hope that the sense of responsibility and
awareness will prevail among them that a future in Europe and the
civilized world cannot be built on the ashes of churches and
destruction of Christian culture which through the centuries
survived numerous occupations and campaigns of destruction
INTERVIEW
- March 20, 2002
An
Interview with Abbot Theodosije Fr.
Teodosije speaks about the post-war life at Decani Monastery and the
future of the Serb Orthodox people in Kosovo and Metohija
An
interview with Fr. Sava from Decani Monastery on post-war life
of Kosovo Serbs, Herald of Kosovo and Metohija, March 15, 2002
Decani
Monastery photo from the air for your desktop background
Click on the photo below and download the large size photo
1000 x 750 (256 Kb)

Fresco paintings of
Visoki Decani Monastery -
jewels of the 14th century
art
Visoki
Decani Monastery, the first
cultural monument on the
territory of Kosovo
Province, to be inscribed in
the list of UNESCO World
Heritage has long been known
as one of the
architecturally most
interesting and best
preserved Serbian medieval
churches in which traditions
of Romanesque architecture
meet artistic patterns of
the Byzantine world.
However, Decani Monastery
paintings were often
regarded as of lesser
artistic value to frescoes
in some other Serbian
Monasteries in Raska and
Kosovo regions. The most
recent photographing of the
entire fresco-painting of
Decani Monastery has
revealed a beauty of fresco
painting which has so far
largerly remained unnoticed
in academic and
iconographic circles. In
this edition of the ERP KIM
Info-service Newsletter we
are presenting only some of
the most beautiful fresco
compositions which decorate
walls of the Decani
Monastery church. The
Monastery and the NGO
MNEMOSYNE from Belgrade are
working currently on
publishing of a large and
richly illustrated
Monography of the Decani
Monastery which will present
the artistic values of this
holy shrine to the wider
public.
GALLERIES
More about the art of Visoki
Decani Monastery:
/edecani2.html
Decani Monastery HOME PAGE
at kosovo.net:
/main.html
|

Decani
Monastery In Photos
Get the know the life of the monastery
from these photo galleries.

The Holy Site |

In the church |

Everyday Duties |

Icon Studio |
DECANI
MONASTERY PANORAMA TOURS
 |
Quick
Time Panorama Tour - ENTER
each separate panorama tour is up to 400KB
and can be easily accessed with a click on a panoramamap
(we owe special gratitude to Danilo
Jurisic
who helped us with these tours) |
For
slower servers you can view the panorama photo

For
those visitors who do not have a quick time plug in or are restricted
by slower connection
we suggest visiting our photo panorama tours
Decani Church in Panorama Tours
If
you do not have QUICK TIME 5.0 PLUG-IN you may download it HERE |

Images
from a night vigil at Decani Monastery
photographer
Dragan Tanasijevic
History
of Decani Monastery
Short
History of Decani Monastery The
History of Decani monastery has always been very turbulent. This short
essay is an attempt to present our rich history in a concise and easy
readable way to our visitors.
Phostos
from the Feast of St. King Stefan of Decani
Nov 24 2001- On this feast of St. King Stefan 4 new monks received
monastic tonsure and got new monastic names: Mathew, Mark, Luke and
John.
The
Monastery During the War - A Safe Haven For all
NYT,
Monastic Refuge For Kosovars, June 16, 2000
AP, Serb Monastery
Protects All Peoples, June, 17, 2000
KRN, Decani Monks'
Courage Saved Lives of Many Kosovars, June 23, 2000
During the worst times of the civil war in Kosovo Decani monastery
was a safe haven for the people of all ethnicities.
Real
Video
BBC Report on the role of Decani monks during
the war
Saved
by the Monks of Decani, BBC, June 17, 1999
Ethnic Albanians near Pec owe their lives to the Serb Orthodox
monks of the Decani monastery who shielded them from rampaging Serb
paramilitaries.
Post-War
Life of Decani Monastery
- Despite its humanitarian role during the
war in which the brotherhood saved lives of many Kosovo Albanians, today's
Albanian community in general still remains hostile to the monastery
as well as to the Orthodox Christian Church in general. Decani monastery
is exposed to various kinds of pressures, threats, hate speech and most
preposterous infamation.
KFOR
Commander gen. Skiaker visited Decani Monastery, Aug 30 2001
"I see the Monastery as a symbol of humanity and of resistance
against violence." gen. Skiaker

Photo - Two Decani monks in a stroll past the
NATO tanks in front of the
monastery, 2001
Traveling
only under KFOR escort in Italian military vehicles - After the Kosovo
war 1998-1999 it is impossible for the monks and Serb visitors to the
monastery to travel freely out of the monastery except under a KFOR
military escort (click on the photo for a larger size image)

History is repeating - a Turkish escort ready to
give protection to the
visitors of the Monastery beg. XX c. During the XIXc and in the beginning
of XX c. the terror of the local Albanian clans was such that it was
impossible to travell without armed escort
(Read
the testimony of Edith Mary Durham 1904)
The
monastery, which lies about 1500 feet above sea-level, appeared
as a white church surrounded by outbuildings at the entrance of
a magnificently wooded valley, through which flows a small river,
the Dechanski Bistritza, the one slope rich with stately chestnuts
and the other fir-clad. Robbed of its broad lands, which have
been swooped on by the Albanians, who at the time of my visit
made further progress up the valley impossible, it lies precariously
on the bloody edge of things, and only the wonderful white marble
church tells of its former glory. It was being used as a military
outpost, and twenty-five Nizams and an officer were quartered
on the monastery, which had also a guard of its own, a set of
Mohammedan Albanians, who were said to be very loyal. They looked
like a wild-beast show, spoke nothing but Albanian, had the most
elegant manners, and I was never allowed outside the monastery
gate without a couple of them. (Through the Land of the Serb,
M.E. Durham 1904, London) |
HOLY
RELICS OF DECANI MONASTERY - Decani Monastery is known for
many holy and miraculous relics of the saints. The most important
relics are of St. King Stefan of Decani, whose body has been preserved
whole and incorruptible. In the treasury also the incorruptible hand
of St. Nicetas the Goth (4th) century and the jaw-bone of St. Gregory
of Nyssa (4 cent) are preseverd and are venerated on important feastdays.
This link lead you to the page with photos of the most important relics
of Visoki Decani Monastery
HUMANITARIAN
ACTIVITIES OF VISOKI DECANI MONASTERY

Fr. Teodosije, the Abbot of Decani Monastery visiting
a Kosovo Serb refugee family
The monastery takes care of many refugee families from Decani area
which temporarily reside in Central Serbia and Montenegro living in
hard ecconomic conditions.
 |
Decani
Monastery Relief Fund
Learn more about the efforts of the Decani Monastery and its
friends in US to support the suffering in Kosovo with assistance
of our friends and donors from all over the world. |

Chanting of
Decani monks in mp3 stream audio
Photos
from the Decani Web Site on Google
Easy searchable thumbnail gallery
PAGE 2
MONASTERIES
OF OUR DIOCESE
full frameset
/
Decani / Gracanica / Sopocani / Pecka Patrijarsija /
/ Crna
Reka / Devic / Sv. Vraci / Sv. Arhangeli /
/ Sv.
Trojica / Sokolica / Gorioc
/ Binac
/
/Draganac
/ Djurdjevi
Stupovi/ Duboki
Potok / Koncul
Banjska /
Dolac / Budisavci
/ St. Mark /
Korisa
Hvostanska
/ Ubozac
/ Kmetovci
/ St. Uros

Home Page - KOSOVO THE LAND OF THE LIVING PAST
|