A fragment of St. Basil of Ostrog's sacred vestment is kept in the Kalenic Monastery

The shrine near Rekovac is a masterpiece of the Morava architecture school

12 kilometers from the village of Oparic, near Rekovac, is the Kalenic Monastery, dedicated to the Presentation of the Holy Mother of God.

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It was built and painted in the early 15th century; two centuries later it was deserted, and then rebuilt in the middle of the 18th century thanks to monks from Moraca.

It was named after the Kalenic River, which flows along the southern side of the hilly Levac and into the Velika Morava.

The shrine is richly decorated on the outside, and the frescoes on the inner walls are among the best preserved from the 15th century.

The Kalenic Monastery is the endowment of Bogdan, a nobleman of the despot Stefan Lazarevic. Like most other shrines, Kalenic was attacked by the Turks. But the frescoes remained intact because the faithful people, wanting to trick the enemy and preserve the frescoes, painted them over with white lime.

Kalenic is known for the fact that the gathering, "Prodjoh Levac, Prodjoh Sumadiju" ("I passed through Levac, I crossed Sumadija") has been held in the yard of this monastery for decades. Believers, on the other hand, often go to this shrine to pray in front of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God Gerondisa, which has been brought from Mt. Athos. In addition to this, a part of the sacred vestment of Saint Basil of Ostrog is kept in Kalenic, whose feast day, May 12, the monastery celebrates as its slava.

Photo: Ivan Strahinic

(Telegraf.rs)