Most unusual church in Serbia is dedicated to the Mother of God: History of this shrine is full of secrets

A Church dedicated to the Holy Mother of God is located i Donja Kamenica near Knjazevac, on the left bank of the Trgovicki Timok River.

The shrine was most likely erected as an endowment of Grand Duke Mihajlo Andjelovic.

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History remembers that Mihajlo Andjelovic was also the governor of the Serbian medieval Despotate, and that his brother "Mahmud" was abducted by Turkish soldiers as a child and turned into a janissary, who later received the title of grand vizier. When Lazar Brankovic and Sultan Mehmed II negotiated, the brothers were on opposite sides of the negotiations.

Although the church has been explored on several occasions, there are still many interpretations and it is not possible to say with certainty which of them is true. Thus, for example, there are two possible dates when the shrine was built; according to one, it happened at the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century, and according to another, in the mid-15th century.

There are also doubts whether Duke Andjelovic was really the founder or if the shrine was built by an unknown Bulgarian nobleman.

However, what attracts everyone's attention in Donja Kamenica is the unusual appearance of the church. It was built in the Morava-Byzantine style with elements of Romanesque architecture.

It looks small, yet at the same time architecturally gives the impression of being monumental.

The shrine has a dome and two small towers. The frescoes are both stylistically and iconographically particularly interesting, especially those showing the life of St. Petka in the south and north towers. In one of the frescoes, this saint is depicted with bare breasts.

Unfortunately, many frescoes have been desecrated, and residents of Donja Kamenica testify that believers are the ones who did it, scratching the faces of the saints, believing that this would cure a disease. The only fresco that escaped such a fate is that depicting the Last Supper.

(Telegraf.rs)