Old St. Nicholas Church or Wooden church in Javorani ( sr-cyr, Стари храм светог Николе/Црква брвнара у Јаворанима) in
Javorani is
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 in
Bosnia. The church is dedicated to
St. Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...
. Church was built in 1756.
Architecture
Church belongs to older type of churches with rectangular foundation without apse part at the site of the altar.
The construction material for church was
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
tree.
Church is 9,46 meter long, 4.92 meter wide and 5.50 meter high.
History
Old Church of St. Nicholas keeps prayer book that contains historical information about monk Neophyte from
Gomionica Monastery
The Gomionica Monastery ( sr, Манастир Гомионица, Manastir Gomionica) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Presentation of Mary and located at the village of Kmećani, 42 kilometres west of Banja Luka, in the Repu ...
who was hung by
local Ottoman administration in
Banja Luka
Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...
under the accusation of defamation.
In 2003-2004 period church was reconstructed. Project of reconstruction was carried on by Republic Institute for Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage of the
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is locat ...
.
Gallery
Image:Stara crkva Javorani.jpg
Image:Unutrašnjost stare crkve.jpg
Image:6939 Црква брвнара, Јаворани, Кнежево.jpg
Image:Zvonik stare crkve Javorani.jpg
Image:Црква брвнара у Јаворанима.jpg
In folk culture
In the local folk tradition there is a legend that at one night church had changed its alleged original location from ''Grabež'' and moved to its present location on ''Cvišić hill''.
There is also a story about
Ottoman Sultan permission to build place of worship but only so big that it can be covered by one oxhide.
This limitation was overcome by craftiness, by cutting the skin on the rig.
References
{{coord, 44.6350, N, 17.2709, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Serbian Orthodox church buildings in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Wooden churches in Bosnia and Herzegovina
18th-century Serbian Orthodox church buildings
Kneževo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Buildings and structures in Republika Srpska