Monastery Moracnik (Manastir Moracnik) description and photos - Montenegro: Petrovac (Topic)

Moracnik Monastery (Manastir Moracnik) description and photos - Montenegro: Petrovac. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Manastir Moracnik.

Photo and description

Morachnik Monastery is located in the east of the island of the same name, on the southern shore of Lake Skadar. It is 13 kilometers from the border with Albania and 19 kilometers from the Montenegrin Virpazar.

The first mention of the construction of the Morachnik monastery can be found in the letter of the ruler of the principality Zeta Balshi III. At his request and entirely at his expense, the Church of the Assumption was built, consecrated in honor of the unique icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Three-Handed, in the period from 1404 to 1417. Like all churches of the Balshich era, the church is a small single-domed building with three conchs. In addition to it, an additional chapel of St. John of Damascus. Previously, the interior of the church was painted with various frescoes depicting saints. To our time, barely noticeable traces of the former painting have remained.

From the original buildings to this day, only a part of the monastery complex has survived. It includes: a stone fence adorned with a monumental entrance gate; cell building in the east; refectory in the south; the remains of a four-story tower, on top of which there was a chapel. Previously, the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord was located on the territory of the monastery, but today it is only a ruin. The monastery did not last long, since after the Turks came to power, it quickly became empty and was practically destroyed.

Partial restoration of the monastery was carried out in 1963 - the dome over the church was restored. In 1985, archaeological work followed, during which the remains of another church were found, located on the highest point of the island. It was the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, built at about the same time as the Assumption Church. Near Morachnik is the island of Topoana, on the territory of which the remains of a church with a characteristic triconchus base were also found.

The monastery was revived in the 1990s. During this period, Hieromonk Jovan (Chulibrka), a famous Serbian Orthodox publicist who worked on the radio and for the Svetigora magazine, was appointed its rector.

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