The Moračnik Monastery () is a

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 ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

on Moračnik island on

Skadar Lake Lake Skadar or Lake Scutari (, ; cnr-Cyrl-Latn, Скадарско језеро, Skadarsko jezero, )also called Lake Shkodra (and ''Lake Shkodër'')lies on the border of Albania and Montenegro, and is the largest lake in Southern Europe. It is n ...

in modern-day

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. It is positioned across from the village of Bobovište, whose residents used it as their church before they converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

History

The name of the monastery is derived from the name of the island. The monastery was mentioned in the chapter issued by

Balša III Balša III ( sr-cyr, Балша III; ) or Balsha III (1387 – 28 April 1421, in Belgrade) was the fifth and last ruler of Zeta from the Balšić noble family, from April 1403 to April 1421. He was the son of Đurađ II and Jelena Lazarević. ...

in 1417 by which he granted a

salt evaporation pond A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The salt pans are shallow and expansive, allowing sunlight to penetrate and reach the seawater. Natural salt pans are formed thr ...

to the monastery. It was built after 1400, probably between 1403 and 1417. The monastery was so poor in the 17th century that in 1665 its

hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen (, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, or an archpriest in the Coptic Orthodox Church, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of ...

, together with hegumen and monks from Vranjina Monastery, requested help from Catholic bishop of Scutari

Pjetër Bogdani Pjetër Bogdani (; 1627 – 6 December 1689) was the most original writer of Old Albanian literature. He was author of the Cuneus Prophetarum (''The Band of the Prophets''), 1685, the first prose work of substance written originally in (Gheg) A ...

. During Montenegrin-Ottoman war in 1853 monastery was attacked by Ottoman forces. Defended by three Leković brothers: Mališa, Savo and Andrija from the nearby Godinje village who were badly outnumbered, it was eventually captured while his defenders according to a local folklore died a heroic death. Until 1997, when the first

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

was done, the monastery was defunct. Pavel Rovinsky thought that this monastery was part of nearby Prečista Krajinska Monastery.

Layout

The monastery was surrounded by a stone wall and consisted of the following buildings: a church dedicated to the Holy Mother of God, residence, communal dining-hall and a tower with a chapel on top.

History

Layout

See also

References

Further reading