The Church of St. Nicholas ( sr, Црква светог Николе/Crkva Svetog Nikole; al, Kisha e Shën Nikollës Tutiqëve), also known as Tutić Church (Tutićeva crkva) is a

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

located in Prizren in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

. It was founded in 1331–1332 by Dragoslav Tutić, whose monastic name was Nikola (Nicholas), and his wife Bela. Later, the church became a possession of the Visoki Dečani Monastery. Since 1990, it has been on Serbia's list of Monuments of Culture of Exceptional Importance. At the time of the

2004 unrest in Kosovo The 2004 unrest in Kosovo is the worst ethnic violence case in Kosovo since the end of the 1998–99 conflict. The violence erupted in the partitioned town of Kosovo Mitrovica, leaving hundreds wounded and at least 14 people dead. The unrest w ...

, the church was vandalized.Ekspertska delegacija Saveta Evropa zavrsila posetu spomenicima Kosovu did i Metohija koji su u unisteni martovskom pogromu
, May 17, 2004, http://www.kosovo.net Since 2005, with financial support from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, work has been undertaken to restore the church to its original state.Church of St Nicholas (Tutic'church)
, Prizren, http://www.rickosovo.org , Reconstruction Implementation Commission for Serbian Orthodox Religious Sites in Kosovo

Architecture

The church of St. Nicholas is a small stone and brick single-nave church, with a central octagonal dome, reconstructed at the end of the 1970s. The

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

apse is semicircular, with semicircular niches for

diaconicon The diaconicon ( el, διακονικόν, translit=diakonikon; Slavonic: ''diakonik'') is, in Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, the name given to a chamber on the south side of the central apse of the church, where the vestments, b ...

and proskomedia. The builder's inscription is only partially preserved but 19th century manuscripts indicate that the church was built in 1331-1332.

Frescoes

The

frescoes Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster ...

in the church are preserved to a degree and are assumed to have been introduced immediately after the church's construction. Based on their style, theme and layout, they are thought to have been painted by the group of painters behind the oldest painting in St. Saviour Church, Prizren and the frescoes in the church of St. George in Rečani near Suva Reka, destroyed in mid-1999.

Notes and references

Notes: References: {{DEFAULTSORT:Church of St. Nicholas, Prizren Christian organizations established in the 14th century Cultural Monuments of Exceptional Importance (Serbia) 14th-century Serbian Orthodox church buildings Serbian Orthodox church buildings in Kosovo Monuments and memorials in Kosovo Destroyed churches in Kosovo Cultural heritage of Kosovo Persecution of Serbs Churches in Prizren

Architecture

Frescoes

See also

Notes and references