The Gomionica Monastery ( sr, Манастир Гомионица, Manastir Gomionica) is 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 ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

dedicated to the

Presentation of Mary The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in the East as The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, is a liturgical feast celebrated on November 21 by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some Anglo-Catholic Churches. The feast ...

and located at the village of Kmećani, 42 kilometres west of

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

, in the

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Feder ...

entity of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. The monastery is the spiritual centre of the region known as Zmijanje. It was founded before 1536, though the exact date of its foundation is unknown. It was referred to as Zalužje in 16th-century sources, while its current name comes from a nearby river. In the second half of the 16th century, the abbot of the monastery was credited by the Ottomans for the peaceful attitude of the population of a wide area around Gomionica. The monastery may have been abandoned, at least partially, at the end of the 17th century (after the

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War (german: Großer Türkenkrieg), also called the Wars of the Holy League ( tr, Kutsal İttifak Savaşları), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Pola ...

), and during the 1730s. The church was refurbished several times during the 18th and 19th centuries. Writer

Petar Kočić Petar Kočić ( sr-Cyrl, Петар Кочић; 29 June 1877 – 27 August 1916) was a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb writer, activist and politician. Born in rural northwestern Bosnia (region), Bosnia in the final days of Ot ...

attended the elementary school organised at the monastery. It was badly damaged during World War II, and its abbot, Serafim Štrkić, was murdered in 1941 by the Nazi-affiliated Croatian

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...

. After the war, Gomionica became a female monastery. In 1953, it was designated as a cultural monument of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, and in 2006, it was proclaimed a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The treasury of Gomionica contains

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 created in the 16th to 19th centuries, as well as manuscripts and printed books created in the 14th to 17th centuries. A

silver-gilt Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French term vermeil, is silver (either pure or sterling) which has been gilded with gold. Most large objects made in goldsmithing that appear to be gold are actually ...

cross formerly owned by the monastery, made in 1640, is now in the collection of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, which acquired it from the private collection of

Thomas Gambier Parry Thomas Gambier Parry, J.P., D.L., (22 February 1816 – 28 September 1888) was a British artist and art collector. He is best remembered for his development of the Gambier Parry process of fresco painting, and for forming the significant c ...

References

External links

Official website of the Gomionica Monastery
{{coord, 44.729722, N, 16.910278, E, type:landmark, display=title Serbian Orthodox monasteries in Bosnia and Herzegovina National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina 16th-century Serbian Orthodox church buildings Buildings and structures in Banja Luka 16th-century establishments in Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian monasteries established in the 16th century Buildings and structures in Republika Srpska