The Moračnik Monastery ( sr, Манастир Морачник, Manastir Moračnik) 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 ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

on Moračnik island on

Skadar Lake Lake Skadar ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Скадарско језеро, Skadarsko jezero, ; sq, Liqeni i Shkodrës, ) also called Lake Scutari, Lake Shkodër and Lake Shkodra lies on the border of Albania and Montenegro, and is the largest lake in Southern ...

in modern-day

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

. It is positioned across from the village of Bobovište, whose residents used it as their church before they converted to Islam.

History

The name of the monastery is derived from the name of the island. The monastery was mentioned in the chapter issued by

Balša III Balša III ( sr-cyr, Балша III) or Balsha III ( sq, Balsha III) (1387 – 28 April 1421, in Belgrade) was the fifth and last ruler of Zeta from the Balšić noble family, from April 1403 to April 1421. He was the son of Đurađ II and Jelena ...

in 1417 by which he granted a

salt evaporation pond A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The Salt pans are shallow and large of size because it will be easier for sunlight to travel and reach the sea water. Natural sal ...

to the monastery. It was built after 1400, probably between 1403 and 1417. The monastery was so poor in the 17th century that in 1665 its

hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen ( el, ἡγούμενος, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called a hegumenia ...

, together with hegumen and monks from

Vranjina Monastery The Vranjina Monastery ( sr, Манастир Врањина, Manastir Vranjina), also known as the Vranina Monastery or St. Nicholas' Monastery, is a Serbian Orthodox monastery on the south-east part of Vranjina island on Skadar Lake in Monteneg ...

, requested help from Catholic bishop of Scutari

Pjetër Bogdani Pjetër Bogdani (1627 – 6 December 1689), known in Italian as ''Pietro Bogdano'', was the most original writer of early literature in Albania. He was author of the Cuneus Prophetarum (''The Band of the Prophets''), 1685, the first prose work ...

. During Montenegrin-Ottoman war in 1853 monastery was attacked by Ottoman forces. Defended by three Leković brothers: Mališa, Savo and Andrija from the nearby

Godinje Godinje (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Годиње) is a village in the Municipalities of Montenegro, municipality of Bar Municipality, Bar, Montenegro. It is located on a hill overlooking Lake Skadar. The village is the ancestral home of the Lekovi� ...

village who were badly outnumbered, it was eventually captured while his defenders according to a local folklore died a heroic death. Until 1997, when the first liturgy was done, the monastery was defunct. Pavel Rovinsky thought that this monastery was part of nearby Prečista Krajinska Monastery.

Layout

The monastery was surrounded by a stone wall and consisted of the following buildings: a church dedicated to the Holy Mother of God, residence, communal dining-hall and a tower with a chapel on top.

History

Layout

See also

References

Further reading