Cetinje Monastery

Cetinje Monastery
Цетињски манастир
Cetinje Monastery, June 2015
Religion
Affiliation	Serbian Orthodox
Province	Montenegro and the Littoral
Location
Location	Cetinje,Montenegro
Geographic coordinates	42°23′N18°55′E
Architecture
Completed	1484, rebuilt between 1701–1704

TheCetinje Monastery(Serbian:Цетињски манастир,romanized:Cetinjski manastir) is amonasteryof theSerbian Orthodox ChurchinMontenegro.It is located inCetinjeand is the seat of theMetropolitanate of Montenegro.A center of historical and cultural importance, it was founded c. 1484 by PrinceIvan CrnojevićofZeta,and designated as thecathedralmonastery of theEparchy of Zeta.It was devastated in 1692, during theMorean War,and rebuilt between 1701 and 1704 by MetropolitanDanilo Petrović-Njegošon the site of the former court of Ivan Crnojević.

There are several relics in the monastery: remains ofSt. Peter of Cetinje,right hand ofJohn the Baptist,particles of theTrue Cross,iconof the Philermos Mother of God, remains ofPetar II Petrović-Njegoš(relocated),royal crownofSerbian kingStephen Uroš III Dečanski,among others.

History

The medieval Cetinje Monastery, also known as the Old Cetinje Monastery, was built byIvan Crnojevićin 1484, and founded on 4 January 1485, at Ćipur, and dedicated to theNativity of the Theotokos(Hram Roždestva presvete Bogorodice). During his stay inAncona,Crnojević was inspired byBasilica della Santa CasainLoretowhere he took an oath that he will build a church also dedicated toMother of Godupon his return in Zeta.It became the seat of the newly foundedEparchy of Cetinje,a successor to theMetropolitanate of Zeta.Its episcope was Visarion (fl. 1485). It is believed that the monastery was about twenty metres long and about six metres wide based upon the monastery's original designs by theVenetianengineer, Barbieri. In an etching in the bookOktoih,it seems the medieval Cetinje Monastery was a three-navedbasilica,with a cupola on the center nave with elements of renaissance architecture. Around the monastery was a 1,400-square-meter (15,000 sq ft) complex with two smaller churches and an inn.

During theMorean War,monastery was in peril twice. Apparently, during the first plunder of Cetinje, after theBattle of Vrtijeljka,the forces ofSüleyman Bushatidid not gravely damage the monastery. Their idea was to pacify Montenegrins, and prevent them from aiding Venetian war effort. On the other hand, his army comprised a considerable amount of forcibly mobilised Christians, and he was afraid of mutiny. The popular tale has it that expeditionary force did start to rob the monastery, however, as one of the soldiers was trying to take down a cross from the top of the roof, he was struck by lightning, which was immediately perceived as Gods sign. In 1689, the Venetians were invited to take control of Cetinje. As they arrived, they quickly fortified themselves in the monastery and in the nearby former court of Crnojević. It thus served as agarrisonfor three years, when Cetinje was attacked again by Suleyman on 25 September 1692. Instead of fighting, Venetians entered negotiations, and reached an agreement to abandon the monastery under honorable terms. However, they mined a monastery with a time bomb, which set of in the evening hours, right after Venetians retreated and as the Ottomans were victoriously entering the monastery, killing many of them in the process. This resulted in seat of Metropolitanate being moved to Dobrska Ćelija monastery for some time.Vladika Daniloreestablished it, in 1701 or 1704, across the site of the first location, atop the remains of the court with stone from the old one, and added a tablet with the coat of arms of theCrnojević family,and a dedication to Ivan Crnojević. Before 1714, it was burnt, and then it was reconstructed yet again around 1743 by MetropolitanSava Petrović Njegoš.It was the center of spiritual, cultural and political life of thePrince-Bishopric of Montenegro.Its importance is clearly emphasised inPrince-Bishop Vasilije'sexaggerated claim, written in his "History of Montenegro", that... before its destruction, Cetinje Monastery was among the most beautiful monasteries in Europe.The last time monastery was devastated was in 1785, whenMahmud Pasha Bushatisacked Cetinje.It has been built on several times, the current appearance dates to 1927. The original site of the monastery, known as Ćipur (afterGreekword Κήπος -Garden) was used in 1886 byPrince Nicholas of Montenegrofor his Court church. The position of the newly built church follows the lineup of the original one from inside the monastery complex. Today its ruin along with couple of pillars can be seen.

Gallery

• 
  Monastery in 1889
• 
  Cetinje Monastery during the 1960s
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  Cetinje Monastery
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  Cetinje Monastery
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  Cetinje Monastery, different angle
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  Mosaic details
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  Mosaic details
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  Court Church, remains of the original monastery can be seen around

See also

• List of Serbian monasteries
• Metropolitanate of Montenegro

Sources

• Ćirković, Sima(2004).The Serbs.Malden: Blackwell Publishing.ISBN9781405142915.
• Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr.(1994) [1987].The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest.Ann Arbor, Michigan.ISBN0472082604.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Mileusnić, Slobodan, ed. (1989).Serbian Orthodox Church: Its past and present.Vol. 7. Belgrade: Serbian Orthodox Church.
• Pavlovich, Paul (1989).The History of the Serbian Orthodox Church.Serbian Heritage Books.ISBN9780969133124.

External links

• Montenegro.org: Monastery at Cetinje - a Montenegrin treasure
• Serb Land of Montenegro,The Monastery of Cetinje