The White Church of Karan ( sr-Cyr, Бела црква каранска; sr-Latn, Bela crkva karanska) 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 ...
parish church in the village of
Karan
Karan may refer to:
People
* Karan (given name), an Indian given name
* Karan (caste), an Indian caste
* Karan Kayastha, a community of Kayastha in Bihar, India
* Karan (surname)
Places
* Karan, Iran (disambiguation), a name for various vi ...
,
Užice Municipality,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
. It is dedicated to the
Annunciation
The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...
to
Mary. The church was listed as a
Cultural Monument of Great Importance.
History
The church was established by
Župan Petar Brajan }, fl. 1340–42) was a Serbian ''župan'' (count) that built the White Church in Karan, Užice, as a family funeral church. The church was erected on site of an older temple from the 10th century, mentioned in a charter edited by Byzantine Empero ...
between 1340 and 1342 on the site of a former Roman worship house, according to the tombs excavated by archaeologists near the building.
Architecture
The White Church is typical of the
Raška architectural school
Raška architectural school ( sr, Рашка школа архитeктуре), also known as the Raška style (Рашки стил, ''Raški stil''), or simply as the Raška school, is an ecclesiastical architectural style that flourished in the ...
.
It has three
bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
s and is topped by a
cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.
The word derives, via Italian, from ...
. The eastern part of the church has a semi-circular
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 ...
with a stone
iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand t ...
. The
narthex
The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...
dates back to the late 19th century.
The church has 14th-century
fresco
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
es. The western frescoes represent Župan Brajan and his wife Struja, his son and three daughters, while the eastern frescoes show Emperor
Stefan Dušan with his wife
Jelena Jelena, also written Yelena and Elena, is a Slavic given name. It is a Slavicized form of the Greek name Helen, which is of uncertain origin. Diminutives of the name include Jelica, Jelka, Jele, Jela, Lena, Lenotschka, Jeca, Lenka, and Alena.
Not ...
and his son
Uroš __NOTOC__
Uroš ( sr-Cyrl, Урош) is a South Slavic given or last name primarily spread amongst Serbs, and Slovenians (mostly of Serbian descent). This noun has been interpreted as "lords", because it usually appears in conjunction with ''velmõ ...
, as well as saints of the
Nemanjić dynasty
The House of Nemanjić ( sr-Cyrl, Немањић, Немањићи; Nemanjić, Nemanjići, ) was the most prominent dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages. This princely, royal, and later imperial house produced twelve Serbian monarchs, who rul ...
(namely
Simeon,
Sava
The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...
and
Milutin). Other frescoes depict scenes from the
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
, as well as scenes of Mary's life and the Virgin Mary with angels.
References
Further reading
*
External links
White Church of Karan- virtual tour and photo collection of the Blago Fund
{{Cultural-Heritage-stub
14th-century Serbian Orthodox church buildings
14th-century establishments in Serbia
Serbian Orthodox church buildings in Serbia
Churches completed in 1342
Cultural Monuments of Great Importance (Serbia)