Original scientific paper
THE SAVINA MONASTERY
Dejan Medaković
; Beograd
Abstract
This article is an extract from the book dealing with the Savina Mosnastery, in which the history of the Monastery, its architecture, the ikons of the large church, as well as the works of art in the monastery treasury are described.
The age of the Monastery has variously been estimated in the scientific literature. The recent study involving the old church, and the discovery of its original frescoes, have made it possible to date it more reliably. The time of its erection – the mid-15th century – has been suggested, as well as the person who commissioned it, i. e. the Duke Stephen Vukčić, a nephew of the Grand Duke Sandalj Hranić. There are no definite news in connection with the Monastery before 1565. The life in the Monastery, most probably, revived only after the Peć Patriarch had been renewed, although it did not become an important centre of spiritual life until the end of the 17th century. Only durign the stirring times of the Morean war, exactly in 1687, when Novi (Herzegnovi) was captured by the Venetians from the Turks, Savina started changing its appearance to become – under Venetian rule – the most important Serbian monastery on the Adriatic Littoral. It is a significant fact that the thriving of the Monastery is closely connected with the flight of the monks of the Tvrdoš monastery who arrived in 1693 when their monastery had been destroyed.
The Savina Monastery was exposed to various influences in the 18th century. It remained tied with the mainland and its warriors in the Old Herzegovina, while the influence of the Orthodox Levant reached it across the sea. The Savina monks entertained close relations with the Imperial Russia, from where they received numerous gifts–such as ikons, church plates, textile fabrics and liturgical books.
The successful development of the Monastery gave the idea to the monks to build a new, larger church, and such request was made in 1762. The Venetian authorities granted the permission in 1776, and from that year on, until 1799, the main attention of the monks was paid to the building and finishing of the new church. In sipte of frequent interruptions, they finally succeeded in the completion of their work. Nikola Foretić, an architect from Korčula was charged with the construction, which he did with his workers, in a medley of stylistic elements (Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque), paying special attention to the large eight-cornered dome adorned with a series of free-standing small pillars.
Before the architectural work was brought to an end, a contract with painters was made in 1795 – the priest Simeon Lazović and his son Vincent – according to which the iconostasis had to be painted. The choice of these masters embodies the wish of the fraternity to provide a stylistic tie between the iconostasis and the traditional painting of the Eastern masters whose stylistic ideas were not exposed to the influence of the Western, Baroque, art.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
159929
URI
Publication date:
23.12.1980.
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