Dorotej or Dorotheus ( sr-cyr, Доротеј) was a

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the population in ...

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

Hilandar The Hilandar Monastery ( sr-cyr, Манастир Хиландар, Manastir Hilandar, , el, Μονή Χιλανδαρίου) is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian monastery there. It wa ...

and the ''

protos Protos means "first," derived from the ancient Greek . Protos may also refer to: * Protos (monastic office), a monastic office at the Eastern Orthodox monastic state of Mount Athos * Protos (constructor), a former racing car constructor * Protos ...

'' of

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

from 1356 until 1366.
/ref> He is noted for writing a charter for the monastery of

Drenča Drenča ( sr-cyrl, Дренча) is a village in the municipality of Aleksandrovac, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southe ...

in 1382.

Life

Drenča

The village of

, 5 km north of town of

Aleksandrovac Aleksandrovac ( sr-cyr, Александровац) is a town and municipality located in the Rasina District of central Serbia. As of 2011, the town has a population of 6,476 inhabitants, while the municipality has 26,522 inhabitants. History Fr ...

, was home to the ruined church of ''Dušmanica'', as it is called by village's elders. The monk Dorotej, the third Prior of

Hilandar Monastery The Hilandar Monastery ( sr-cyr, Манастир Хиландар, Manastir Hilandar, , el, Μονή Χιλανδαρίου) is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian monastery there. It wa ...

with his son Danilo (who later became Patriarch Danilo III of the

Serbian Patriarchate of Peć The Serbian Patriarchate of Peć ( sr, Српска патријаршија у Пећи, ''Srpska patrijaršija u Peći'') or just Patriarchate of Peć ( sr, Пећка патријаршија, ''Pećka patrijaršija''), was an autocephaly, a ...

, from 1390 to 1397) built the monastery of Drenča in 1382 and dedicated it to the ''Presentation of the Holy Virgin''. The two founders gifted the shrine with numerous estates and established its economic status which was regularly supplied with continuous income. At the south-west angle of the Monastery Church naos the building founders's graves are covered with large stone blocks. With its decoration similar to the

Veluće Veluće is a village located in the Trstenik municipality, central Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the village has a population of 417 inhabitants.Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i Stanova 2002. Knjiga 1: Nacionalna ili etnička pripadnos ...

and Rudenica monasteries, the architectural style of Drenča Monastery is of the early school of Morava architecture.

Prince Lazar Lazar Hrebeljanović ( sr-cyr, Лазар Хребељановић; ca. 1329 – 15 June 1389) was a medieval List of Serbian monarchs, Serbian ruler who created the largest and most powerful state on the territory of the disintegrated Serbia ...

confirmed large properties in the area of town of

Kruševac Kruševac ( sr-cyr, Крушевац, , tr, Alacahisar or Kruşevca) is a city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina river. According to the 2011 census, t ...

and Braničevo area. The church of Drenča Monastery has a three-foil base combined with an inscribed cross, richly decorated and built of stone and bricks, a slim cupola resting on four free pillars, and an eastern apse with specific sections for the vestry and deacons. The monastery church widens from west side towards the three-part altar space, towards the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

which is a semi-eclipse from inside and five-sided from the outside, and towards the

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

and the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

, used to be covered with the cross-ceiling. Drenča Monastery with its Church dedicated to the Presentation of the Holy Virgin was long time in ruins to experience eventually its thorough reconstruction at the beginning of the second Millennium and gather again religious people from the Zupa region, near

References

Sources

*A. Mladenović, ''Povelje kneza Lazara'' (Belgrade, 2003) pp. 177–190 (Drenča) 14th-century Serbian people People of the Serbian Empire Medieval Serbian Orthodox clergy Medieval Athos Athonite Fathers People associated with Hilandar Monastery {{Serbia-bio-stub

Life

Drenča

See also

References

Sources