The Chapel of Saint Petka (

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

: Капела Свете Петке) in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

is a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

, erected over a

sacred spring A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its gua ...

, and dedicated to

Saint Petka Saint Paraskeva of the Balkans (also known as: Света Петка Българска, Petka of Bulgaria, Petka of Serbia, Paraskeva of Serbia, Paraskeva the Serbian, Paraskeva of Belgrade, Parascheva the New, Parascheva the Young, grc, Ὁσ ...

. It is located at a way connecting the upper and the lower city of the Belgrade Fortress, in proximity of the

Ružica Church Ružica Church ( sr-Cyr, Црква Ружица, Crkva Ružica, 'Little Rose Church') is a Serbian Orthodox church located in the Belgrade Fortress, in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Original church was built in the early 15th century, whil ...

, with the spring being in the very

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

of the chapel. The present-day chapel was built in 1937 after a project of the architect

Momir Korunović Momir Korunović ( sr-cyr, Момир Коруновић), was a Serbian architect best-known for his projects built in Serbo-Byzantine Revival. He was sometimes called ''the Serbian Gaudi''. Korunović finished his higher education in Belgrade ...

. Its inner walls and vaults are covered by

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s done by painter Đuro Radulović in 1980–1983.

History

A chapel of Saint Petka in Belgrade was built in 1417 by an unknown dignitary when her

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s were

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

to Belgrade at the request of Princess Milica of Serbia to the sultan. The exact location of this chapel is not known, nor whether was it erected near the sacred spring. After Belgrade was captured in 1521, the relics were translated to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

and in 1641 to

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

. The current chapel contains a piece of the relics. Prior to today's chapel, a dugout chapel existed on the slope, decorated with

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

s and containing the sacred spring. Since it was in bad condition, after an initiative by Patriarch Varnava, the today's chapel was built and consecrated at Saint Petka's feast day in 1937. Digging the foundation uncovered remains of an older temple, and bones of soldiers who were killed in the defence of Belgrade in 1914 and 1915, that were transferred into a nearby ossuary. Also found were

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

tombstones, including that of vizier

Marashli Ali Pasha Marashli Ali Pasha ( tr, Maraşlı Ali Paşa, sr, Marašli Ali-paša) was an Ottoman Empire governor, serving as the Vizier of Belgrade (Sanjak of Smederevo The Sanjak of Smederevo ( tr, Semendire Sancağı; sr, / ), also known in historiogr ...

. The chapel complex also includes a

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

and the parish home.

Chapel painting

The chapel was painted twice. The first paintings were done by an academician-painter Vladimir Predojević. The paintings soon deteriorated because of the poor quality of materials used for the works, and so the second paintings were done as a mosaic. The second paintings were done by Belgrade painter Đuro Radlović between 1975 and 1982, and consecrated by

Patriarch German German ( sr-Cyrl, Герман, English equivalent: ''Herman''; 19 August 1899 – 27 August 1991) was the 43rd Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1958 to 1990. He was successful in revitalizing the Serbian Orthodox Church to a certa ...

on February 27, 1983.

Friday prayers

The chapel can be visited every day, but is most often visited on Friday and slava days, especially at Saint Petka's feast day on October 27. Every friday morning a

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

with reading of the canon of Saint Petka and kissing her holy relics is held in

, while in the afternoon it is held in the chapel of Saint Petka. The existence of the sacred spring is first mentioned in 1658 by Michel Quiclet. It has dried up once, after the withdrawal of the Serbian army from Serbia in 1915, but ran again in 1918 on the feast day of Saint Onesimus, so on this day a liturgy is being held in the chapel and the water is consecrated.

Gallery

File:Crkva Sv. Petke u Beogradu 01.jpg File:Crkva Sv. Petke u Beogradu 02.jpg File:Crkva Sv. Petke u Beogradu 03.jpg File:Crkva Sv. Petke u Beogradu 04.jpg, Icon of Saint Petka on the church wall File:Crkva Sv. Petke u Beogradu 05.jpg, Parish building File:Crkva Sv. Petke u Beogradu 06.jpg, Candle alcoves File:Crkva Sv. Petke u Beogradu 07.jpg, Memorial Ossuary for the 1914–15 defenders of Belgrade, in the fortress wall behind the chapel File:Crkva Sv. Petke u Beogradu6.jpg, Inside of the chapel File:Crkva Sv. Petke u Beogradu7.jpg, Inside of the chapel File:Crkva Sv. Petke u Beogradu8.jpg, The spring of Saint Petka in the chapel File:Crkva svete Petke1.jpg File:Crkva svete Petke3.jpg File:Kalemegdan - Sveta Petka church (by Pudelek).JPG File:Kapela-Svete-Petke.jpg

References

Literature

* Крстионица Свете Петке = The Baptistery of The Chapel of St. Petka / �адомир В. Поповић; приредио Петар А. Бојковић - Београд : Црква рођења Пресвете Богородице, 2005 ( �. м. : б. и.. - 23 стр. : илустр.; 17 cm () * Преподобна мати Параскева Света Петка / приредио Владимир Вукашиновић. - Нови Сад : Арт-принт, 1999 (Нови Сад : Арт-принт). - 43 стр.; 16 cm Део текста упоредо на срп. и енгл. језику. - На насл. стр. поред места издавања и: Београд () * Веровах, зато говорих : литургијске омилије и духовне поуке из капеле Свете Петке у Калемегданској тврђави протојереја-ставрофора Владимира Вукашиновића / приредио Никола Јоцић. - Врњци : Интерклима-графика, 2016 (Врњци : Интерклима-графика). - 158 стр. : илустр.; 21 cm ()

External links

Православље - Цркве Ружица и Света Петка

* ttps://zena.blic.rs/porodica/danas-vernici-hrle-na-ovo-mesto-u-beogradu-duhovnik-crkve-svete-petke-ima-vaznu/vw6yvp3 Верници хрле на ово место у Београду {{coord, 44.82574, 20.45105, format=dms, type:landmark_region:RS, display=title Chapels Eastern Orthodox church buildings Stari Grad, Belgrade Serbian Orthodox churches in Belgrade 1937 establishments in Serbia Churches completed in 1937