The Church of the Virgin
Hodegetria
A Hodegetria, or Virgin Hodegetria, is an iconography, iconographic depiction of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) holding the Child Jesus at her side while pointing to him as the source of salvation for humankind. The Virgin's head usually inclines t ...
(; ) was a 14th-century
Serbian Orthodox
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The majority of the populat ...
church in Mušutište, near
Suva Reka
Suva Reka ( sr-Cyrl, Сува Река) or Suharekë () or Therandë () is a town and municipality located in the Prizren district of central-southern Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town has 10,422 inhabitants, while the municipality ...
,
Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
,. The church was destroyed by
Kosovar Albanian forces during the destruction of the Serbian part of
Mušutište
Mushtisht or Mušutište ( sr-Cyrl, Мушутиште) is a village in the Suhareka municipality in Kosovo. It is located to the west of the Nerodimka mountain. It has 10 medieval Serbian Orthodox churches, including the notable Church of Virgin ...
, after the end of the Kosovo war in 1999.
History
The church was built as an endowment by Serbian nobleman
Jovan Dragoslav
Dragoslav ( sr-cyr, Драгослав) or Jovan Dragoslav (Јован Драгослав; 1290–1315) was a Serbian nobleman with the titles of ''kaznac'', and then '' veliki kaznac'', serving King Stefan Milutin (r. 1282–1321). The ''kaznac ...
in 1315. The inscription at the entrance of the church was considered one of the oldest and most accomplished Serbian epigraphic texts of its kind. It was an inscribed-cross church with a semi-dome and a semi-round
apse
In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...
. The wall was built of alternating rows of bricks and stone cubes. The frescoes of the
Mušutište School, related to the style of the
Palaiologos era, were painted between 1316 and 1320 and were famed for their plasticity and the saints' typology were known as the best examples of Serbian art.
In the altar area there was a unique portrait of
St Clement of Ohrid. In the north-western corner of the naos there were figures of holy women, the
warrior saints
Theodore Tyro and
Theodore Stratelates
Theodore Stratelates (, ; ), also known as Theodore of Heraclea (; AD 281–319), was a martyr and warrior saint in the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Oriental Orthodox Churches.
There is much confusion as to whether he and St. Theodore of Am ...
, angels, and
St Panteleimon. Two throne icons of
Christ
Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...
and The
Holy Virgin
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loret ...
dated back to the year 1603.
[
]
Protection
The church was designed a monument of culture on 27 November 1948. It was inscribed in the list of the Monuments of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990 upon the decision of the Assembly of Serbia
The National Assembly ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Народна скупштина, Narodna skupština, ), fully the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (), is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 De ...
.[
]
See also
* Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance
*Serbs in Kosovo
Kosovo Serbs form the largest ethnic minority group in Kosovo (5–6%). The precise number of Kosovo Serbs is difficult to determine as they have boycotted national censuses. However, it is estimated that there are about 95,000 of them, nearly ...
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Church Of Virgin Hodegetria, Musutiste
Cultural Monuments of Exceptional Importance (Serbia)
14th-century Serbian Orthodox church buildings
Destroyed churches in Kosovo
Medieval Serbian sites in Kosovo
1315 establishments in Europe
Suva Reka