The Church of St. George ( hr, Crkva svetog Đorđa, sr-Cyrl, Црква светог Ђорђа) in
Bobota is
Serbian Orthodox church in eastern
Croatia. The church is famous for its icons in the iconostasis that were painted in 1778.
During the
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...
, administration of
Eparchy of Osječko polje and Baranja sent the icons on the restoration and preservation in
Vojvodina.
The icons were returned to the church after the end of war.
The decision to remove the cultural property from the church caused controversy and was an open issue in
Croatia–Serbia relations up until the final return of icons.
History
First Eastern Orthodox Christians in Bobota are mentioned in document from 1366 during the
Kingdom of Hungary rule in the region.
30 Serb households are mentioned in 1558 during the
Ottoman Hungary period.
One older Serbian Orthodox church, mentioned in 1733, existed at the site of the present day church.
The decision to build a new one was made in 1762 when the Village
Knez (
petty nobility title) Jovan Nedeljković.
Until 1866 the village was organized into two Serbian Orthodox parishes with two priests with families living in Bobota.
Up until the beginning of the
World War I the church tower had a 600
kilogram
The kilogram (also kilogramme) is the unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo colloquially ...
four rings built in
Pest
Pest or The Pest may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns
** Weed, a plant considered undesirable
* Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection
** ...
which were then confiscated by the
Austro-Hungarian Army.
After the establishment of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes new four rings of 1400 kilograms were made in
Ljubljana.
During the
World War II in Yugoslavia and the
Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia the church was converted into a
Roman Catholic church.
At the final stage of the war in 1945, Yugoslav Partisans burned down the parish building which was next to the church. The new parish building was built in 1952 during the early years of the existence of the
Socialist Republic of Croatia.
See also
*
Eparchy of Osječko polje and Baranja
*
Bobota
*
Serbs of Croatia
*
List of Serbian Orthodox churches in Croatia
Territory of modern-day Croatia is divided between 7 eparchies of the Serbian Orthodox Church. 5 of them have their seat in Croatia, one in Serbia and one in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of March 2021 the central public ''Records of Religious Comm ...
References
18th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings
Bobota
{{Croatia-EO-church-stub