A monastery built into a rock: Gornjak Gorge's spiritual and architectural gem

The founder of this in many ways unusual shrine was Serbian medieval Despot Stefan Lazarevic

At the entrance to the Gornjak Gorge (Serbian: Gornjacka Klisura), on the left side of the Petrovac-Zagubica road, are the remains of the Blagovestenje Monastery, a holy place dating back to the medieval Serbian state.

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Despot Stefan Lazarevic, the son of Prince Lazar, is credited for building the monastery, once one of the most important shrines in the area of the medieval fortress of Zdrelo.

What distinguishes the Blagovestenje Monastery in the Gornjak Gorge from most other Orthodox shrines is the fact that it was built into a rock, which is why even today, although only its remains have been preserved, it looks impressive.

The accompanying buildings around the monastery cascade down to the road, creating an incredibly beautiful whole on the cliffs of Mount Vukan.

As the monastery is located some 20 meters from the Mlava River, at the time of its construction, every time water levels rose, it would get "cut off from the world."

Above the monastery, in the rock, was a hermitage cell where Saint Gregory of Sinai the Younger (Serbian: Grigorije Sinaita) spent time while in charge of building the nearby Gornjak Monastery.

The Blagovestenje Monastery, where a copying school (scriptorium) was active tirelessly for almost three centuries, has been declared a cultural monument of great importance in Serbia.

Photo: Ivan Strahinic

(Ona.rs)