Djurdjev pillars are a monastery of the Serbian Orthodox Church, dedicated to St. George, located on a hill above Novi Pazar, in Stari Ras. Djurdjev pillars are one of the oldest Serbian monasteries. The monastery was erected by the great mayor Stefan Nemanja in the first years after the accession to the throne of the great mayor (construction was completed in 1171), and the church was painted around 1175.
The statutory inscription of Stefan Nemanja in Đurđev's Pillars from 1170/1171. It is one of the few monuments of that time that is dated, and is an important testimony to the beginnings of our literacy. The monastery is a World Heritage Site and is under UNESCO protection [1]. The monastery has been in existence for over 845 years, of which 300 are in ruins and 40 have been rebuilt. Today, the monastery is largely rebuilt. The monastery is home to 4 monks and 2 tempters.
The special importance of the monastery, in addition to the old biographical texts, speaks of the exceptional position of the monastery erected at the very top of a prominent hill, as well as the distinctive architecture of St. George's Church with two tower-pillars / pillars, which later gave the name of the church and monastery - Đurđevi pillars. A similar architectural solution, quite unusual for the Orthodox churches of the Balkans, has only a much smaller Church of the Virgin in Donja Kamenica, in which, however, both front towers are preserved.
Pillar - represents a more expansive piece of arable land in the possession of rulers, lordships, or ecclesiastical institutions, who directly exploited it. Therefore, it can be said that the columns were part of the property reserve, processed by the free labor of the dependent population.
The pillars are built in a characteristic style that represents a unique synthesis of two architectural conceptions of the Middle Ages, Byzantine architecture in the East and Romanesque architecture in the West. St. George's Church has an important place in the formation of this architecture, known as the Raska School, as a building that marks the beginning of this creative era in the architecture of medieval Serbia.
Giurgiu Pillars are a building with a number of architectural and architectural innovations in the construction of that time. These include the characteristic towers - pillars, side vestibules, elliptical dome, irregular shape of the altar space, as well as the specific solution of the central dome space of the church.
Very little trace remains of the original painting in the church. However, it is known from old photographs taken between the two world wars, as well as from the first explorations (N. L. Okunjev). After World War II, some of the decoration and murals were removed from the walls and transferred to the National Museum in Belgrade.
In the semicircle there was Jesus Christ the All-pervading surrounded by angels. The walls of the dome were painted with the figures of the prophets Elijah, Elisha, Daniel and Zechariah the Younger, while above the prophet Daniel were the saints of Azariah and Ananias [1]. The western pair of pandatifs featured the holy evangelists Luke and Mark, between them Holy Ceramide, and on the south and north sides of this ring were medallions with angels. The upper and middle zones are dedicated to the great feasts and scenes of the sufferings of Christ: Hailing, Baptism, Pentecost, Resurrection of Lazarus, Flowers, Transfiguration, Betrayal of Judas, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, Crucifixion and probably, Mourning. In the lower zone were the holy warriors and the bust of the saints. On the belly of the arch of the passage from the nave in the parish, in the special frames were St. Prov, Tarah and Andronicus, and below them St. Peter and Paul.
The reconstruction of the monastery has lasted over 45 years. The monastery was renovated in two phases.
from 1960 to 1999 and
from 1999 to the present
In 1960, the National Museum in Belgrade began a systematic exploration of Djurdjev's pillars, and in 1960, 1961 and 1962 most of the monastery complex was cleared and the remains of the monastery buildings were discovered. In 1964, the Republican Institute for the Protection of Monuments performed protective works on King Dragutin's chapel, including archaeological research and the cleaning of paintings.
In 1968, the systematic research and protection of the monument complex by the Institute for the Protection of Monuments in Kraljevo continued. Technical protection measures were implemented at all facilities.
In 1999, the renovation of the monastery residence began. The ground floors of the konak are restored by the old stone masonry technique, while the upper part is also made of stone, but with a sign on the inside of the courtyard to mark the new konak part, which only follows the basic shape of the old konak but does not represent their restoration. The konak is now completely restored, with 7 monks and martyrs living in it. Funds are currently being raised for the complete restoration and reconstruction of St. George's Church and its full tower towers.
The complete restoration of the monastery began in the spring of 2001 with the blessing of His Excellency the Bishop of Raska and Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija Artemi. The project for the complete restoration of the monastery is, however, still far from complete. Funds are currently being raised and a project is underway to complete the restoration of the church and towers / pillars of St. George.
The rebuilding of the towers has not been done because there is no reliable information on their earlier height and method of completion.
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