Piva Monastery

{{Infobox religious building

|building_name =Piva Monastery
Pivski Manastir
Church of Sveta Bogorodica (the Theotokos)
Church of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God

|image= Manastir Piva 3.jpg

|image_size=275px

|caption= Piva Monastery

|location= Piva, Montenegro, Montenegro

|geo = {{coord|43.11|18.8186|display=inline,title}}

|map_type = Montenegro

|map_caption = Location of Pivski Manastir or Piva Monastery

|map_size= 275

|religious_affiliation=Serbian Orthodox

|district=

|functional_status=Active

|leadership= Herzeg Metropolitan Savatija

|website=

|architecture=yes

|architect=

|architecture_type=

|architecture_style=

|facade_direction=

|year_completed=Original 1573, relocated in 1982

|construction_cost=

|specifications=

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|materials=Stone

}}

The Piva Monastery ({{langx|sr|Манaстир Пивa|Manastir Piva}}), also known as the Church of Sv. Bogorodica or the Church of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, is located in Piva, Montenegro near the source of the Piva River in northern Montenegro. Built between 1573 and 1586, it was rebuilt in another location in 1982. It is the largest Serbian Orthodox church constructed during the Ottoman occupation in the 16th and 17th centuries. Noted for its frescoes, the monastery's treasures also include ritual objects, rare liturgical books, art, objects of precious metals and a psalm from the Crnojevići printing press (1493–96), which was the first in the Balkans. These are displayed in the monastery's museum.

History

Founded in 1573,{{cite book|last=Abraham|first=Rudolf|title=The mountains of Montenegro|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zDALl75839oC&pg=PA33|access-date=19 July 2011|date=September 2007|publisher=Cicerone Press Limited|isbn=978-1-85284-506-3|pages=33–}} or 1575,{{cite book|last=Oliver|first=Ian|title=War & peace in the Balkans: the diplomacy of conflict in the former Yugoslavia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qu58hfrYAHsC&pg=PA30|access-date=21 July 2011|year=2005|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-85043-889-2|pages=30–}} and completed in 1586 through the expenditures of the Metropolitan bishop of Zahumlje and Herzegovina Savatije Sokolović,{{cite book|last=DiLellio|first=Anna |author-link=Anna Di Lellio|title=The case for Kosova: passage to independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aNEW0jtOjK8C&pg=PA50|access-date=21 July 2011|date=June 2006|publisher=Anthem Press|isbn=978-1-84331-229-1|pages=50–}} who later became the Serbian Orthodox patriarch, the monastery is dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos.{{cite book|last=Rellie|first=Annalisa|title=Montenegro, 3rd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j39fWAZ8A5sC&pg=PA199|access-date=19 July 2011|date=22 May 2008|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=978-1-84162-225-5|pages=199–}} The construction workers were brothers named Gavrilo and Vukašin.{{cite book|author1=Младен Лесковац|author2=Александар Форишковић|author3=Чедомир Попов|title=Српски биографски речник|volume=2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ozYYAQAAIAAJ|year=2004|publisher=Будућност|page=570}}

Piva Monastery is included within the Eparchy of Budimlja-Nikšić. In 1982, a new reservoir, created by the Piva Hydro Electric Project, required moving the monastery. Stone by stone it was moved to the village of Goransko near Lake Mratinje.{{cite book|title=Yugoslav review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6kPpAAAAMAAJ|access-date=19 July 2011|date=1 January 1986|publisher=Jugoslovenska Revija|page=29}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.montenegro.org/mon_piva.html|title= The Piva monastery|access-date=19 July 2011|publisher= montenegro.org}}{{cite book|last=Turnock|first=David|title=The human geography of Eastern Europe|url=https://archive.org/details/humangeographyof0000turn|url-access=registration|access-date=19 July 2011|year=1989|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-00469-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/humangeographyof0000turn/page/293 293]}}

Geography

File:Piva Monastery.png

Piva Monastery is located in the village of Piva, just south of Goransko in northern Montenegro.

It is accessible along the E-762 road, on the way to Foča. It lies approximately {{convert|55|km}} from Nikšić and is {{convert|7|km}} south of Plužine.

The monastery was originally located at the source of the Piva River, approximately {{convert|3|km}} away from and {{convert|100|m}} below the junction of the proposed Mratinje Dam, a hydroelectric plant. Begun in 1969 and completed in 1982, the monastery was moved to its current position, which included the removal and replacement of over 1000 fresco fragments, covering {{convert|1260|m2}}.[http://podgorica.usembassy.gov/cultural_preservation_for_future_generations.html Ambassador's Fund Helps Preserve Frescos of Piva Monastery] U.S. Embassy in Podgorica and Montenegro (2008){{cite web|url=http://muzeji.me/Museums/details/memp|title=Piva Monastery|publisher=Museums Macedonia|access-date=19 July 2011}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.discover-montenegro.com/Piva_Monastery.htm|title=The Piva Monastery|access-date=19 July 2011|publisher=discover-montenegro.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623201819/http://www.discover-montenegro.com/Piva_Monastery.htm|archive-date=23 June 2011}}

Architecture and fittings

Piva is a small stone structure. Its construction includes three naves with a taller middle nave. There is no cupola. The monastery contains archives, a library, and a treasury with 183 books and nearly 280 other items reported in 1991, including ritual objects, rare liturgical books, art and objects of precious metals.{{cite book|title=Historical abstracts: Modern history abstracts, 1775–1914|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CMFVAAAAYAAJ|access-date=19 July 2011|year=1991|publisher=American Bibliographical Center, CLIO|page=942}} Also featured is a psalm from the Crnojevići printing press (1493–1496), which was the first printing press in the Balkans.{{cite book|author=Frederick Bernard Singleton|title=A short history of the Yugoslav peoples|url=https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofyu0000sing|url-access=registration|access-date=24 July 2011|year=1985|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-27485-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofyu0000sing/page/30 30]–}} It is dated to 1494 and was discovered by chance among other papers in the library of the monastery.{{cite book|title=Review: Yugoslav magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0VM8AQAAIAAJ|access-date=19 July 2011|year=1979}}

Much of the church was decorated by Greek painters between 1604 and 1606 and contains many frescoes.{{cite book|last=Janićijević|first=Jovan|title=The cultural treasury of Serbia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rHYMAQAAMAAJ|access-date=19 July 2011|year=1998|publisher=IDEA}} However, the upper porch area was painted by a local priest Strahinja of Budimlje; this included Akathist to the Mother of God. Other parts of the church, dating from 1626,{{cite book|last1=Bryer|first1=Anthony|last2=Ursinus|first2=Michael|title=Manzikert to Lepanto: the Byzantine world and the Turks 1071–1571 : papers given at the Nineteenth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Birmingham, March 1985|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GdErAQAAIAAJ|access-date=19 July 2011|year=1991|publisher=A. M. Hakkert|page=407}} were painted by Kozma who also painted many of the icons on the iconostasis. The icons of St. George and the Dormition of the Virgin are dated to about 1638–1639.{{cite book|last1=Georgevich|first1=Dragoslav|last2=Maric|first2=Nikola|last3=Moravcevich|first3=Nicholas |title=Serbian Americans and their communities in Cleveland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OYM8AAAAIAAJ|access-date=19 July 2011|year=1977|publisher=Cleveland State University}} The artist Zograf Longin painted the throne icons of the Mother of God, Christ and Assumption of the Mother of God. Piva, Morača and Mileševa monasteries have been described as "breathtaking medieval masterpieces that store ancient writings and works of art".{{cite book|first=John |last=Clements|title=Clements' encyclopedia of world governments|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NegjAQAAIAAJ|access-date=19 July 2011|date=1 January 1998|publisher=Political Research, inc.}}

Conservation

The church has been provided with drainage arrangements to prevent seepage of water inside the church so that the frescoes are protected from effects of humidity. In 2008, the U.S. Embassy at Podgorica provided $22,200 for the reconstruction of the drainage system.