The Mrkšina crkva printing house (printing house in the monastery of Mrkšina crkva; sr-Cyrl-Latn, штампарија Мркшина црква, штампарија у манастиру Мркшина црква, Мркшиначка штампарија, štamparija Mrkšina crkva, štamparija u manastiru Mrkšina crkva, Mrkšinačka štamparija, separator=" / ")
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 10,175 inhabitants and the town itself has 3,723 (2022 census). The municipality's area i ...
in
Ottoman Serbia
Ottoman Serbia refers to the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman period in the history of Serbia. Various regions of medieval Serbia came under Ottoman rule already at the end of the 14th century, while the Serbian Despotate fell in 1459. Northern regions o ...
(today a town in
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
). This printing house was operational until 1566 and printed two
srbulje books, ''
The Four Gospels'' ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Четворојеванђеље, Četvorojevanđelje, separator=" / ", label=none) in 1562 and ''The Flower Triod'' ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Триод Цветни, Triod Cvetni, separator=" / ", label=none) 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
Kosjerić
Kosjeríć ( sr-cyr, Косјерић, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of western Serbia. The municipality has a population of 10,175 inhabitants and the town itself has 3,723 (2022 census). The municipality's area i ...
. One of the most possible locations is above the county house and mouth of the river Kladoroba and
Skrapež.
Printing
The books created in the printing house were edited and printed by
Hieromonk Mardarije. According to some sources, it was Mardarije who inspired first Dmitrović and then
Trojan Gundulić 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 monastery of Mrkšina crkva. Two books were printed in the Mrkšina crkva printing house:
* ''
The Four Gospels'' ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Четворојеванђеље, Četvorojevanđelje, separator=" / ", label=none) in 1562 and
* ''The Flower Triod'' ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Триод Цветни, Triod Cvetni, separator=" / ", label=none) 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
*Ornamental turning
*Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals tha ...
.
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, 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
Ottoman Serbia
Ottoman Serbia refers to the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman period in the history of Serbia. Various regions of medieval Serbia came under Ottoman rule already at the end of the 14th century, while the Serbian Despotate fell in 1459. Northern regions o ...
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, one copy in
Ždrebaonik Monastery and two in
Cetinje Monastery
The Cetinje Monastery () 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 and cultural importance, it was founded c. 1484 by Prince ...
.
A street in Kosjerić heading to the supposed place of the Mrkšina crkva is named Zoupan Mrkša.
See also
*
Goražde printing house
*
Vuković printing house
*
Crnojević printing house
*
Belgrade printing house
*
Mileševa printing house
*
Rujno Monastery printing house
*
Swietopelk Printery
References
Sources
*
Further reading
*
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
Serbian Cyrillic texts