Devič

The founder of the monastery is Despot Đurađ Branković, who had it built in memory of his daughter. In the Ottoman census from 1455, the monastery is mentioned as the church of the Theotokos (dedicated to The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple). During Turkish occupation the monastery was pulled down, but the church and the site with the grave of St. Joanikije was reconstructed, and was painted in 1578.

Image:Kosovo-metohija-koreni-duse048.jpg]]

The monastery was destroyed and burnt down during World War II in 1941 by forces of the Albanian Fascist Party, the prior Damaskin Bošković was killed, and Italian troops disassembled the two big bells and took them away in 1942. It was rebuilt in 1947.

Devič was a target of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1999. The monastery was vandalized and all food and two cars were stolen. The marble tomb of the patron saint St. Joannicius of Devič was desecrated by local Albanian in June 1999. Since then it has been under the constant protection of French KFOR troops.{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9906/17/kosovo.04/|title=CNN - KLA rebels accused of vandalizing Serb monastery - June 17, 1999|publisher=CNN|access-date=2014-03-03|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095609/http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9906/17/kosovo.04/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://www.sv-luka.org/Kosovo2000Part1.pdf |title=DESTRUCTION OF CHRISTIAN CHURCHES AND MONASTERIES IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA SINCE ARRIVAL OF NATO |website=Sv-luka.org |access-date=2016-11-11 |archive-date=2014-08-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828014859/http://www.sv-luka.org/Kosovo2000Part1.pdf |url-status=dead }}

It was the target of new attacks by Albanians in the most serious unrest in Kosovo on 18 March 2004 when the nuns were evacuated for safety reasons by Danish KFOR troops. Following that the monastery was pillaged and torched. The Serbian Orthodox Church received confirmation of the monastery's plight the following day from the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

File:Devič Monastery_interior.jpg|Burned and desecrated interior of the Devič. Note UÇK graffiti in the church apse.

File:10-Devic.jpg|Burned monastery lodgings covered in snow

File:11-Devic.jpg|Burned monastery lodgings covered in snow

• Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance
• Tourism in Kosovo
• List of Serbian Orthodox monasteries

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Devič}}

• {{Cite book|last1=Ferrari|first1=Silvio|last2=Benzo|first2=Andrea|title=Between Cultural Diversity and Common Heritage: Legal and Religious Perspectives on the Sacred Places of the Mediterranean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhUGDAAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Routledge|location=London & New York|isbn=9781317175032 }}

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4O91unM_dY Video] of the burned, destroyed and desecrated Devič monastery complex
• {{cite web|title=Манастир Девич у близини Србице|publisher=Споменици културе у Србији|url=http://spomenicikulture.mi.sanu.ac.rs/spomenik.php?id=419}}
• [http://www.kosovo.net/edevic.html Official page on Devic Monastery]
• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/balkans/stories/letter052599.htm WashPost: Serbian Nun Stands Her Ground Against Albanians 5-25-1999]
• [http://www.kosovo.net/pogrom_march/devic1/page_01.htm Photo story on destruction of Devič, ERP KIM, March 2004]

{{Cultural Heritage of Exceptional Importance}}

{{Serbian Orthodox Church}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devic}}

Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1430s

Category:Serbian Orthodox monasteries in Kosovo

Category:Cultural Monuments of Exceptional Importance (Serbia)

Category:Medieval Serbian architecture

Category:Medieval Serbian sites in Kosovo

Category:Destroyed churches in Kosovo

Category:15th-century Serbian Orthodox church buildings

Category:Skenderaj

Category:Cultural heritage of Kosovo

Category:Monuments and memorials in Kosovo

Category:Churches destroyed by arson

Category:Patriarchate of Peć