Praskvica Monastery

{{Infobox religious building

| building_name = Praskvica Monastery
Манастир Прасквица

| image = Praskvica, dalsi klaster v Pastrovicich, 13.-18. stol.jpg

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| map_type =Montenegro

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| location = Čelobrdo near Budva

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| religious_affiliation = Serbian Orthodox

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| state = Unknown (modern-day Montenegro)

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| status = Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral

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| year_completed = 1050 (according to the legend)

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The Praskvica Monastery ({{langx|sr|Манастир Прасквица|Manastir Praskvica}}) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery in Čelobrdo, a village in the Budva municipality in modern-day Montenegro. It was a spiritual and political center of the Paštrovići clan. The name of the monastery is taken from the peach-scented water of the nearby spring (praskva, diminutive praskvica, meaning a "peach").{{cite book|author=Nebojs̆a Tomas̆ević|title=Treasures of Yugoslavia: an encyclopedic touring guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zCIuAAAAMAAJ|access-date=13 June 2013|year=1982|publisher=Yugoslaviapublic}}

Establishment

According to the legend, the monastery was founded in 1050, but the first document that mentions it was composed in 1307.{{cite book|author=Velibor V. Džomić|title=Pravoslavlje u Crnoj Gori|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=leSQAAAAMAAJ|access-date=12 June 2013|year=2006|publisher=Svetigora|isbn=9788676600311}} The document is a charter that Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia issued during his visit to Kotor, in which he confirmed to the Church of the Holy Trinity the ownership over villages granted to the church by his mother, Saint Helen of Serbia.{{cite book|author=Miroslav Luketić|title=Budva, Sv: Stefan, Petrovac|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2YgNAQAAIAAJ|access-date=15 June 2013|year=1966|publisher=Turistički savez|page=163}}

Churches

Six churches belong to Praskvica Monastery.

Two churches are within the complex of the monastery. The older church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity while the other, built by Balša III and his mother Jelena{{cite book|author=Boško Strika|title=Srpske zaduzbine: Dalmatinski manastiri|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nqSxAAAAMAAJ|access-date=14 June 2013|year=1930|publisher=Tiskara "Merkantile"|page=264|quote=Ту је цркву године 1413 поднгао Балша III Стратимировић Балшић и његова мати Јелена, кћи косовског мучепика Св. Лазара}} in 1413, is dedicated to Saint Nicholas.{{cite book|title=Godišnjica Nikole Čupića|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P9A4AQAAMAAJ|access-date=13 June 2013|year=1897|page=205}}{{cite book|author=Justin Sp Popović|title=Žitija svetih|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNNZAAAAIAAJ|access-date=13 June 2013|year=1975|publisher=Izdanje Manastire sv. Ćelije kod Valjeva|page=463|quote=манастир Прасквица са црквама Св. Троjице и Св. Николе,}} The church was built in the Raška architectural school style.{{cite book|author1=Vojislav J. Đurić|author2=Gordana Babić-Đorđević|title=Srpska umetnost u srednjem veku: XIV-XVI vek|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GyNMAAAAMAAJ|access-date=15 June 2013|year=1997|publisher=Srpska književna zadruga|page=123|isbn=9788637906636|quote=Међутим, подижући 1413. године храм Св. Николе у манастиру Прасквици у Паштровићима, Балша III је учинио необичан подухват: обликовао га је угледајући се на рашко градитељство из XIII века.}} In the same year, a small house was built near the church. After the church was reconstructed in 1847, only a part of one wall of the original church building remained.{{cite book|author=Srpsko geografsko društvo|title=Glasnik Srpskog geografskog društva: Bulletin de la Société serbe de geographie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Tv5fVh-s74C|access-date=15 June 2013|year=1922|publisher=Srpsko geografsko društvo|page=216}}

There are four churches on the Sveti Stefan island that also belong to Praskvica Monastery. One of them was destroyed by the communists during World War II, and was later turned into a casino.{{cite web|title=Манастир Прасквица|url=http://www.mitropolija.me/?page_id=1701|publisher=Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral|access-date=12 June 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118205154/http://www.mitropolija.me/?page_id=1701|archive-date=18 November 2012}} The Church of Saint Stephen ({{langx|sr|Црква Светог Архиђакона Стефана}}) is one of the remaining churches on Sveti Stefan that belongs to Praskvica Monastery. Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic married Jelena Ristić on 12 July 2014 in this church.{{cite news|title=Završeno crkveno vjenčanje Novaka i Jelene Đoković|url=http://www.nezavisne.com/umjetnost-zabava/jet-set/Zavrseno-crkveno-vjencanje-Novaka-i-Jelene-Djokovic-253237.html|access-date=12 July 2014|publisher=nezavisne}}

Some of the monastery icons were painted in 1681 by a painter named Radul.{{cite book|author=Сретен Петковић|title=Manastir Sveta Trojica kod Pljevalja|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o40FAAAAMAAJ|access-date=13 June 2013|year=1974|publisher=Институт за Историју Уметности Филозофског факултета|page=64}} According to some stories, the cross of Emperor Dušan is kept in this monastery.{{cite book|author=Olga Moskovljević|title=Svetlosti Mediterana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v-ExAQAAIAAJ|access-date=13 June 2013|year=1972|publisher=Matica srpska|page=23}}

In 1813, when Montenegrin Littoral became part of the Illyrian Provinces, the monastery was plundered by Napoleonic forces.{{Cite web | url=https://www.bastabalkana.com/2014/07/manastir-praskvica-i-crkva-svetog-nikole-pored-svetog-stefana/ | title=Manastir Praskvica i crkva Svetog Nikole pored Svetog Stefana | date=11 July 2014 }}

Jegor Stroganov

There is a popular story about Jegor Stroganov, a one-armed Russian military officer who lived in the monastery as a monk from the late 18th century to the early 19th century. According to this story he came to Budva at the end of the 18th century and became a monk in Praskvica and pledged for silence.{{cite press release | url=http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/aktuelno.69.html:159107-Jegorov-put-ponovo-prohodan | title=Jegorov put ponovo prohodan | publisher=Novosti | date=22 June 2004 | access-date=2013-06-15 | quote=Ovaj jedinstveni put od mora do sela Čelobrdo iznad Svetog Stefana, koji je u 19. veku izgradio Jegor Stroganov, koji je stigao u manastir Praskvica iz carske Rusije, pošto se zavetovao ćutanjem....koji ga je gradio punih deset godina.}} At the beginning of the 19th century, he took ten years to build a 3-kilometer stone road from Sveti Stefan to the monastery.{{cite book|author=Miroslav Luketić|title=Budva, Sv: Stefan, Petrovac|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2YgNAQAAIAAJ|access-date=13 June 2013|year=1966|publisher=Turistički savez|page=165|quote=Пут од манастира Прасквице до Дуљева и даље до Паштров- ске горе израдио је крајем XVIII и почетком XIX ви- јека Рус Јегор Строганов,}} This road is eponymously called "Jegor's Road" after him.{{cite book|title=Pravoslavlje|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zoAPAQAAIAAJ|access-date=13 June 2013|year=2007|publisher=Izdaje Srpska patrijaršija|page=120}} A drama by the same name, written by Serbian playwright Vida Ognjenović, was inspired by the story about Stroganov.{{cite press release | url=http://www.pobjeda.me/arhiva/?datum=2004-06-20&id=33279 | title=Dozvalo je očevo ćutanje | publisher=Pobjeda | date=20 June 2004 | access-date=2013-06-13 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200511/http://www.pobjeda.me/arhiva/?datum=2004-06-20&id=33279 | archive-date=29 October 2013 }}

Praskvica Monastery

Establishment

Churches

Jegor Stroganov

See also

Notes

Further reading