The Mrkšina crkva printing house ( sr, Штампарија Манастира Мркшина Црква; Мркшиначка штампарија) was a printing house established in 1562 in the Monastery of Mrkšina Crkva in village

Kosjerić Kosjeríć ( sr-cyr, Косјерић, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of western Serbia. The municipality has a population of 12,090 inhabitants, but the town itself has 3,992. The municipality's area is , with 26 v ...

Ottoman Serbia Most of the territory of what is now the Republic of Serbia was part of the Ottoman Empire throughout the Early Modern period, especially Central Serbia and Southern Serbia, unlike Vojvodina which had passed to Habsburg rule starting from the ...

(today a town in

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 ...

). This printing house was operational until 1566 and printed two srbulje books, The Four Gospels (Четворојеванђеље) in 1562 and ''The Flower Triod'' (Триод Цветни) in 1566. In 1567 the Ottomans destroyed the church and its printing house.

Location

Today the exact location of this printing house is unknown. There are different theories about exact location of the monastery and its printing house, but all of them agree that it was somewhere near

. One of the most possible locations is above the county house and mouth of the river Kladoroba and

Skrapež Skrapež is a village in the municipality of Vlasotince, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of t ...

Printing

The books created in the printing house were edited and printed by

Hieromonk Mardarije Hieromonk Mardarije ( sr-cyr, Јеромонах Мардарије; 1552–66) was a Serbian Orthodox hieromonk and one of the most important early Serb printers. Mardarije was the first Belgrade printer and last great printer of srbulje books. ...

. According to some sources, it was Mardarije who inspired first Dmitrović and then

Trojan Gundulić Trojan Gundulić ( it, Troiano Gondola; c. 1500 - c. 1555) was a merchant and printer from the Republic of Ragusa who is remembered for his participation in the printing of the first book in Belgrade, '' The Four Gospels'' ("Četverojevanđelje" ...

to invest in a printing business and organized all activities during the set up of the printing house in Belgrade. Some sources explain that Mardarije moved a printing press from Belgrade to Mrkšina crkva monastery. Two books were printed in the Mrkšina crkva printing house: * The Four Gospels (Четворојеванђеље) in 1562 and * The Flower Triod (Триод Цветни) in 1566. The Flower Triod is recognizable because in this book Mardarije preferred to use figural motifs instead of the

ornaments An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration *Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts *Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve on ...

. This book was printed on 1 September 1566 by Hieromonk Mardarije, priest Živko and deacon Radul. This was the last book printed in the Mrkšina crkva printing house in 1566.

Aftermath

In 1567 the Ottomans burned the church and its printing house, while the monks fled to

Rača monastery The Rača Monastery ( sr-cyrl, Манастир Рача, Manastir Rača) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery 7 km south of Bajina Bašta, Serbia. The monastery was built by Stefan Dragutin (1276-1282). The monastery became a place where Serbian ...

, similar to monks from Rujno Monastery printing house who fled there after 1537. After the printing house became defunct in 1566, no other such operation existed in

until 1831.

Legacy

Two copies of the Four Gospels printed at Mrkšina crkva are still preserved in the

Monastery of the Holy Trinity of Pljevlja The Holy Trinity Monastery of Pljevlja ( sr, Манастир Света Тројица Пљеваљска, Manastir Sveta Trojica Pljevaljska) is a medieval Serbian Orthodox monastery complex (lavra) in Pljevlja, Montenegro. It is located about ...

, one copy in Monastery Ždrebaonik and two in

Cetinje Monastery The Cetinje Monastery ( sr, Цетињски манастир, Cetinjski manastir) is a monastery of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro. It is located in Cetinje and is the seat of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro. A center of historical ...

. A street in Kosjerić heading to the supposed place of the Mrkšina crkva is named Zoupan Mrkša.

References

Sources

External links

Online scanned version of the 1562 Four Gospels at the Library of Matica Srpska website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mrksina crkva printing house + Medieval Serbian literature History of printing History of the Serbian Orthodox Church Kosjerić 1562 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1566 disestablishments in Europe