The Dobrićevo Monastery ( sr, Манастир Добрићево, Manastir Dobrićevo) 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 churches. The majority of the population in ...

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 whic ...

built in the first half of the 13th century in the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Prin ...

(modern-day

Republic of 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 located ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

). The building was originally built by the river

Trebišnjica The Trebišnjica ( sr-cyrl, Требишњица) is a river in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It used to be a sinking river, long above the ground. With a total length of above and under the ground, it is one of the longest sinking rivers in the world ...

and moved in 1964 to the village

Orah Orah (Serbo-Croatian for "walnut") may refer to: Places Bosnia and Herzegovina * Orah, Bileća, a village in Bileća, Republika Srpska * Orah, Rudo, a village in Rudo, Republika Srpska * Orah, Ravno, a village in Ravno, Federation of Bosnia and ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

Bileća Bileća ( sr-cyrl, Билећа) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 7,476 inhabitants, while the municipality has 10,807 inhabitants. History ...

because its original location was flooded after

hydro power plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

near Bileća was completed in 1965.

History

The monastery was built on the foundations of earlier Christian basilica which was, according to the local legend, built by

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

and

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer *Helena, mother of Constantine I Places Greece * Helena (island) Guyana * ...

Slava Slava may refer to: Ships * Slava-class cruiser, ''Slava'' class cruiser, a modern Russian warship ** Soviet cruiser Slava (1979), now Russian cruiser ''Moskva'', a ''Slava'' class guided missile cruiser sunk during the 2022 Russian invasion of U ...

of Dobrićevo Monastery is

Presentation of Mary The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in the East as The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, is a liturgical feast celebrated on November 21 by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some Anglo-Catholic Churches. The feast ...

. The legend says that

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

was built after the main church building by members of the

Aleksić Aleksić ( sr-Cyrl, Алексић) is a Serbian or Montenegrin surname, a patronymic derived from '' Aleksa''. Notable people with the surname include: * Danijel Aleksić (born 1991), Serbian football player *Milan Aleksić (born 1986), Serbian ...

family whose descendants still lived in nearby Oputna Rudina village at the beginning of the 20th century. During its history the monastery was destroyed or damaged many times. In 1672 it was burnt by the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. Ottomans again razed this monastery in 1687, after they were defeated and expelled from

Herceg Novi Herceg Novi ( cyrl, Херцег Нови, ) is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the Western entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 in ...

. During the

Herzegovina Uprising (1875–78) Herzegovina uprising or Herzegovinian uprising may refer to: * Herzegovina uprising (1596–97), fought by Serbs in Herzegovina against the Ottoman Empire, 1596–1597 * Herzegovina uprising (1852–62), fought by Serbs in Herzegovina against the O ...

the monastery was again destroyed and robbed. On 5 August 1914 the monastery was seriously damaged by the soldiers of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

who put straw inside the church and burned it in order to destroy the frescoes. On that occasion many books and relics in the church were destroyed too, while only a part was saved by the monks. Near Dobrićevo Monastery was Kosijerevo Monastery, on another side of river Trebišnjica which today belongs to Montenegro. Like Dobrićevo, Kosijerevo monastery has also been moved to another location, to Petrovići village, near

Nikšić Nikšić ( cnr, Никшић, italic=no, sr-cyrl, Никшић, italic=no; ), is the second largest city in Montenegro, with a total population of 56,970 located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot ...

in the region of

Banjani Banjani ( sr-cyrl, Бањани) was a Tribes of Montenegro, tribe of Old Herzegovina, and historical region in western Montenegro. Its territory comprises , west of Nikšić, in the centre between Nikšić and Bileća, from the top of Njegoš m ...

tribe. The Dobrićevo Monastery was designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2006.

History

See also

References

Further reading