The Cetinje Monastery ( sr, Цетињски манастир, Cetinjski manastir) is a

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 whi ...

of the Serbian Orthodox Church in

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

. It is located in Cetinje and is the seat of the

Metropolitanate of Montenegro The Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral of the Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr, Митрополија црногорско-приморска Српске православне цркве, Mitropolija crnogorsko-primorska Srpske pravoslav ...

. A center of historical and cultural importance, it was founded c. 1484 by Prince

Ivan Crnojević Ivan Crnojević ( sr-Cyrl, Иван Црнојевић, italics=no, lit=Ivan the Black) was the lord of Zeta and Serbian leader from 1465 to 1490. Having formed an alliance with the Republic of Venice, he led the Serb resistance against the expandi ...

Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; grc, ζῆτα, el, ζήτα, label= Demotic Greek, classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived f ...

, and designated as the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

monastery of the

Eparchy of Zeta The Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral of the Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr, Митрополија црногорско-приморска Српске православне цркве, Mitropolija crnogorsko-primorska Srpske pravoslav ...

. It was devastated in 1692, during the

Morean War The Morean War ( it, Guerra di Morea), also known as the Sixth Ottoman–Venetian War, was fought between 1684–1699 as part of the wider conflict known as the " Great Turkish War", between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire. Military ...

, and rebuilt between 1701 and 1704 by Metropolitan Danilo Petrović-Njegoš on the site of the former court of Ivan Crnojević. There are several relics in the monastery: remains of St. Peter of Cetinje, right hand of

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

, particles of the

True Cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...

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 ...

of the Philermos Mother of God, remains of

Petar II Petrović-Njegoš Petar II Petrović-Njegoš ( sr-cyrl, Петар II Петровић-Његош, ; – ), commonly referred to simply as Njegoš (), was a Prince-Bishop (''vladika'') of Montenegro, poet and philosopher whose works are widely considered ...

(relocated), royal crown of Serbian king Stephen Uroš III Dečanski, among others.

History

The medieval Cetinje Monastery, also known as the Old Cetinje Monastery, was built by

in 1484, and founded on 4 January 1485, at Ćipur, and dedicated to the

Nativity of the Theotokos The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of Mary, the Marymas or the Birth of the Virgin Mary, refers to a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of Mary, mother of Jesus. The modern canon of scripture does not record Mary's bir ...

(''Hram Roždestva presvete Bogorodice''). During his stay in

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

, Crnojević was inspired by

Basilica della Santa Casa The Basilica della Santa Casa ( en, Basilica of the Holy House) is a Marian shrine in Loreto, in the Marches, Italy. The basilica is known for enshrining the house in which the Blessed Virgin Mary is believed by some Catholics to have lived. Pio ...

in Loreto where he took an oath that he will build a church also dedicated to

Mother of God ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations ar ...

upon his return in Zeta. It became the seat of the newly founded Eparchy of Cetinje, a successor to the Metropolitanate of Zeta. Its episcope was Visarion (fl. 1485). It is believed that the monastery was about twenty metres long and about six metres wide based upon the monastery's original designs by the Venetian engineer, Barbieri. In an etching in the book ''

Oktoih The ''Cetinje Octoechos'' ( sr, Цетињски октоих or ''Cetinjski oktoih'') is an Orthodox liturgical book printed in 1494 in Cetinje, the capital of the Principality of Zeta (present-day Montenegro). It is the first incunabulum wri ...

'', it seems the medieval Cetinje Monastery was a three-naved

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

, with a cupola on the center nave with elements of renaissance architecture. Around the monastery was a complex with two smaller churches and an inn. During the

, monastery was in peril twice. Apparently, during the first plunder of Cetinje, after the

Battle of Vrtijeljka The Battle on Vrtijeljka ( sr, бој на Вртијељци, boj na Vrtijeljci) was fought on the hill of Vrtijeljka near Cetinje between a Venetian irregular force and an advancing Ottoman force on 7 May 1685 at the start of the Morean War. T ...

, the forces of Süleyman Bushati did not gravely damage the monastery. Their idea was to pacify Montenegrins, and prevent them from aiding Venetian war effort. On the other hand, his army comprised a considerable amount of forcibly mobilised Christians, and he was afraid of mutiny. The popular tale has it that expeditionary force did start to rob the monastery, however, as one of the soldiers was trying to take down a cross from the top of the roof, he was struck by lightning, which was immediately perceived as Gods sign. In 1689, the Venetians were invited to take control of Cetinje. As they arrived, they quickly fortified themselves in the monastery and in the nearby former court of Crnojević. It thus served as a garrison for three years, when Cetinje was attacked again by Suleyman on 25 September 1692. Instead of fighting, Venetians entered negotiations, and reached an agreement to abandon the monastery under honorable terms. However, they mined a monastery with a time bomb, which set of in the evening hours, right after Venetians retreated and as the Ottomans were victoriously entering the monastery, killing many of them in the process. This resulted in seat of Metropolitanate being moved to Dobrska Ćelija monastery for some time. Vladika Danilo reestablished it, in 1701 or 1704, across the site of the first location, atop the remains of the court with stone from the old one, and added a tablet with the coat of arms of the Crnojević family, and a dedication to Ivan Crnojević. Before 1714, it was burnt, and then it was reconstructed yet again around 1743 by Metropolitan Sava Petrović Njegoš. It was the center of spiritual, cultural and political life of the

Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro The Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro ( sr, Митрополство Црногорско, Mitropolstvo Crnogorsko) was an ecclesiastical principality that existed from 1516 until 1852. The principality was located around modern-day Montenegro. It ...

. Its importance is clearly emphasised in Prince-Bishop Vasilije's exaggerated claim, written in his "History of Montenegro", that ''... before its destruction, Cetinje Monastery was among the most beautiful monasteries in Europe''. The last time monastery was devastated was in 1785, when Mahmud Pasha Bushati sacked Cetinje.It has been built on several times, the current appearance dates to 1927. The original site of the monastery, known as Ćipur (after

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

word Κήπος -

Garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

) was used in 1886 by Prince Nicholas of Montenegro for his Court church. The position of the newly built church follows the lineup of the original one from inside the monastery complex. Today its ruin along with couple of pillars can be seen.Manastir na Ćipuru
/ref>

Gallery

File:The Convent, Cetinje, Montenegro WDL2609.png, Monastery in 1889 File:Monastyr - Cetynia - 003298n.jpg, Cetinje Monastery during the 1960s File:Cetinje - panoramio.jpg, Cetinje Monastery File:Medovina, Cetinje, Montenegro - panoramio.jpg, Cetinje Monastery File:Facade of Cetinje Monastery - Cetinje - Montenegro.jpg, Cetinje Monastery, different angle File:Cetinjski samostan 2018.jpg, Mosaic details File:Samostan na Cetinju.jpg, Mosaic details File:Cetinje, Court_Church.jpg, Court Church, remains of the original monastery can be seen around

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

Montenegro.org: Monastery at Cetinje - a Montenegrin treasure
The Monastery of Cetinje {{Authority control Cetinje Serbian Orthodox monasteries in Montenegro Religious organizations established in the 1700s Christian monasteries established in the 18th century Petrović-Njegoš dynasty Burial sites of the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty Rebuilt buildings and structures in Montenegro

History

Gallery

See also

References

Sources

External links