Đurđevi stupovi ,Ras

 monastery, orthodox christianity, UNESCO World Heritage Site

Djurdjevi Stupovi Monastery in Ras ,Republic of Serbia,near Novi Pazar was founded by the first Serbian ruler Stefan Nemanja in 1170-1171 according to the incarved inscription from the main church portail. It was built on a hilltop near old Ras and its location is a significant point in the area at his new just established state with the tour of Ras as a capital.
As an endowment of gratitude it is consecrated to Saint George who helped Stefan Nemanja the founder in the battles and in liberation from the prison as is noted in the written sources by his biographers.
The monastery complex included secular buildings with residences and two rows of defensive walls. The main monumental church was built of stone and covered with plaster as a representative architectural work of art which very successfully combined Romanesque (i.e. Western) and Byzantine (i.e. Eastern) elements into a new very original architectural entity. In this masterpiece of architectural work a new manner of building was introduced, well known as Raška style. Generally it was adapted to the configuration of the hill so that the monumental stairs coming up to the church had to be constructed.
On the front side the two large bell towers of Italian-Dalmatian type about 20 m of height were constructed after which the monastery received its common name Djurdjevi Stupovi (pillars = towers=columns means stupovi in serbian).
In the late 13th century (1282-1283) the Serbian King Dragutin, Nemanja’s great grand-child had made some changes and further works inside the monastery complex. He transformed the entrance tower of the monastery into the chapel and opened the new entrance on the south-eastern side and did some other rebuilding so that he became the second founder. He was buried in the monastery so it became his grave church, too. As one of the most privileged royal foundations Djurdjevi Stupovi had a highest rank in the state of Nemanjic’s in the 13th century together with Hilandar and Studenica monasteries.
The enterior of the church was decorated by the frescoes in the 8th decade of the 12th century during the reign of Stefan Nemanja. Only fragments of these richly paintings survived. The new fresco decoration done during the reign of King Dragutin in the 9th decade of the 13th century is also heavily damaged. Some of the pieces were translated into the National Museum in Belgrade.
This was a result after several destructions of this monastery during the past wars when it was also used as a military fortress.
The remains of the 12th century paintings show that the painters, certainly Greeks as their inscriptions on the frescoes are in Greek, arranged the scenes very skillfully in real or painted architectural settings. The frescoes in the Chapel of King Dragutin painted in 1282-1283 are significant examples of historical scenes and are of great importance for Serbian medieval history depiction of the time (Serbian Councils). Some fragments of compositions illustrating the life of Saint George, the church’s patron have been preserved, including the portrait of Saint George on the horse, and the Nemanjićes portraits with a founder’s composition included, and also a wonderful depiction of the Holy Trinity, Mandilion and Keramion (holy images of Christ) and Descent of the Holy Ghost.
The monastery was heavily damaged and almost destroyed in the past centuries, firstly by the Turks in the wars of the late 17th century and remained in ruins. It faced (underwent) a final destruction in 1912. during the liberation battles by Novi Pazar and in 1941 also, during the Second World War. Only the ruins remains of the glorious monumental 12th century endowment of Stefan Nemanja survived. The monks had left it in the 17th century and it could not be used for religious services.
After archaeological excavations had been done (1960-1982) it has been restored after Jovan Nešković’s scientific plan for restauration and under (by, organized by) the Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments in Kraljevo and in Belgrade (Serbia).
In 2002 the residental secular buildings of the monastery were completed and monastic life and religious services were established again after 3 centuries of interruption.