Gracanica Monastery of the Dormition—the Serbian Pearl

The Monastery of Gracanica, dedicated to the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, is located in the center of Kosovo and Metohija. This monastery—an endowment from the Serbian King Milutin—was built in 1321. Its patron generously bestowed upon it precious gifts, lands, and special rights. The monastery church arose on the place where once was the cathedral church of the ancient Lipljan bishropric.
Gracanica is one of the pearls of medieval Serbian culture, and one of the most significant places in Serbian history and spirituality. With its name are connected many works of art and literature, beginning from the middle ages to our own times.
In the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries, the monastery was at its height. There were hundreds of monks laboring there, leading intense spiritual lives and developing trades and handicrafts.
During the second quarter of the sixteenth century, the residence of the Novobrde Metropolia was located in Gracanica, which opened the first printing press in the monastery. Later due to attacks from the Turks the monastery became empty, and services where held it as a parish church.
After World War II, the monastery became a convent for nuns, and the new residents took up the labor of restoring it. Now the sisters labor in iconography, handicrafts, agriculture, and other monastery obediences.

After the war in 1999, the residence of the Rasko-Prizren bishopric was in fact moved to the monastery, after being forced to leave the cathedra in Prizren. The Monastery acquired not only a new cultural significance, but also an important administrative center for the Serbs of Kosovo and Metohija. Here meetings, reception of guests, and importance decisions for the life of the Church and its people are conducted.
A comparatively large Serbian enclave has nestled up to the monastery, and pilgrims and tourists visit it often.
There are remarkable frescoes in the monastery, including depictions of members of the Nemanic dynasty. Here can be seen the images of Serbian archbishops and Patriarchs. There is also a collection of ancient icons preserved in the monastery.
Photo: Hieromonk Ignaty (Shestakov)/Pravoslavie.ru