Founding
orthodox Monastery
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
The Ljubostinja Monastery (Serbian: Манастир Љубостиња, romanized: Manastir Ljubostinja) is located on the left bank of the West Morava river, 4 kilometers north of Trstenik, in the area of the village of Prnjavor (Trstenik). It belongs to the Eparchy of Kruševac of the Serbian Orthodox Church. It was built on the eve of the Battle of Kosovo, at the end of 1388, as the first female monastery in Serbia. It is the endowment of Princess Milica, who, according to legend, saw Prince Lazar here for the first time, when a mutual love was born between them simultaneously - hence, according to one theory, the name of the monastery (ljubvestin - place of love). The princess took her monastic vows in Ljubostinja in 1392, and spent the rest of her life here, together with her friend, the medieval Serbian writer, Despotess Jelena Mrnjavčević - later nun Jefimija. Both are buried in the monastery, where their relics are still kept today. At one point, the relics of Saint Petka were also kept in Ljubostinja, as the greatest material and spiritual treasure of the Serbian Despotate.
The head of the monastery was Abbess Hristina (Obradović), with the sisterhood, who was in charge from 21 May 1995 to 2026.
At the end of the 14th century, the sanctuary first became a gathering place for the remaining aristocracy of Moravian Serbia, because it accepted the widows of the Serbian nobility as new nuns, and then a hub of Serbian diplomacy, since Princess Milica - then already nun Evgenija - remained the de facto ruler until her death in 1405. During the 18th century and 19th century, Ljubostinja was one of the five richest monasteries in Serbia, known as the home of prominent and influential abbots, and since the 20th century - as a bastion of female monasticism.
The monastery was built in the style of the Morava architectural school, which here uniquely unified the influences of Venetian Gothic and Islamic architecture. It is recognizable by its rose windows, stone ornaments in the shape of blooming lilies, and other floral shapes that symbolize heavenly vegetation, adding a theological expression to the architecture, evoking the builders' intention to set the composition of Ljubostinja as the temple of the Dormition of the Mother of God, situated in the ambiance of a heavenly garden or the Garden of Eden. Resembling ancient palaces, the frescoes are painted with cold color tones - mostly cinnabar-red and malachite-green. The most famous among them depicts Jesus's Healing the paralytic at Bethesda.
As a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance, the last endowment of the Nemanjić dynasty, the mausoleum of Princess Milica, and an ossuary with over thirty discovered monastic and noble graves, Ljubostinja has enjoyed the highest degree of protection from the Republic of Serbia since 1979. The abbess of the monastery since 1995 is Mother Hristina (Obradović), and the parish priest is Father Danijel (Stefanović). Folk assemblies are held in the monastery courtyard on the Transfiguration and the Dormition of the Mother of God, as well as the event Jefimija's Days.
According to the words of Abbot Sevastijan Putnik, Ljubostinja is one of the largest Serbian monasteries with the least amount of written historical data. More notes exist only from 1780. Most of the prose about the fate of the monastery from the time of its creation to the 21st century has been reconstructed based on cadastral, church, and other records.
There are three interpretations of the name given to the monastery.
According to the oldest tradition, on the site of today's monastery, there was once a small church dedicated to Saint Archdeacon Stephen, around which a public assembly (fair) was held every 2 August, on the translation of the relics of this saint. Vratko Nemanjić - Jug Bogdan in folk tradition - had his vineyards on the surrounding hills, so one of them is still called Bogdanovo (Bogdanjsko) brdo, and the village on it - Bogdanje. Once, Prince Lazar came to the assembly, and there he met Jug-Bogdan's daughter, the young Milica, a noblewoman from the ruling lineage. At that moment, love was born between them, which Milica nurtured by visiting the August assembly every year, and gifting the church with various presents. Wanting to preserve an eternal memory of the idyllic place where she met her husband, she decided to build a magnificent temple instead of a small church, which would serve the Virgin Mary, but also act as a memory of their love. Hence the portmanteau ljubvestan ↔ ljubvostin → ljubostinja - place of love, the place where love dwells, where it was born, where it smolders, the place of a romantic meeting.
The second interpretation relates to the word ljubo-pustinja (love for the desert), i.e., love for the ascetic life. The early Middle Ages saw the flourishing of the city of Županjevac in Serbia, near present-day Ljubostinja. Županjevac had its own bazaar and was one of the centers of trade in Pomoravlje. Outside the city walls, but near its roads, an unusually large number of hermits lived in the valleys and sketes of the Gledić Mountains at that time. The third interpretation says that the sanctuary got its name from a toponym - ljupka stena (lovely rock), since it is located below the Gledić Mountains and the Samar peak.
According to one of the legends, Princess Milica built Ljubostinja in the valley of small mountain streams, the Ljubostinja and Sušica rivers, at the place where she, as a girl - then Milica Nemanjić - first saw Prince Lazar. The monastery is surrounded on three sides by the hills of the Gledić Mountains - to the north is Iver, to the west is Tatarna, and to the east is Kamađore (Kamidžor). Work on the foundations of Ljubostinja began in 1388. After the fatal losses at the Maritsa (1371) and Kosovo (1389), the Princess's idea was for this building to host the widows from Serbian noble families. Thus, the first female monastery in Serbia was founded.
The first among them was Jelena Mrnjavčević, the widow of Uglješa Mrnjavčević, who took monastic vows after the Battle of Maritsa and the death of her husband, taking the name Jefimija. The two noblewomen, Milica and Nun Jefimija, continued and strengthened their friendship later, in their shared monastic days, when exactly in Ljubostinja Jefimija embroidered the Praise to Prince Lazar with gilded threads, one of the most significant works of medieval Serbian literature.
In the period from the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 until 1393 and the enthronement of her son, Despot Stefan Lazarević, on the Serbian throne, Princess Milica ruled Serbia as regent. Ljubostinja Monastery, where she spent most of her time, was essentially the gathering place for the remaining authority and diplomacy in Serbia, so its history is closely tied to the last years of Milica's life. With the completion of this last endowment of the Nemanjić dynasty, according to historians, the crown was placed on Milica's activity of preserving and continuing the Nemanjić and Lazar's cultural, spiritual, and political legacy.
Chronicles record that the ruler visited and very carefully oversaw the work of the builders. She dedicated the monastery to the Dormition of the Mother of God and opened a transcription school within it. With Stefan's rise to power, Princess Milica took monastic vows, took the name Evgenija, and completely withdrew to Ljubostinja. With this act, her reputation and power did not diminish, but on the contrary - became even greater, since Milica, although in a monastery, still took upon herself a part of Serbian diplomatic relations. This is evidenced by the letters she received as a Ljubostinja nun from Dubrovnik, where the people of Dubrovnik continued to address her following court codex, with "glorious and most honorable lady", "magnanimous lady", "glorious and highly respected lady", "lady princess of Raška and Novo Brdo". Constantine of Kostenets writes that she was "not only a woman, but also a wise Odysseus". In 1398, together with Jefimija, she went to Serres to ask her angered son-in-law, Sultan Bayezid I, for forgiveness for her son Stefan, who had been accused of collaborating with the Hungarians. She returned from there with a promise that Bayezid would forgive Stefan, but also with the relics of Saint Petka, which she requested and received from the Sultan. The saint's relics were first kept in the Županjevac monastery, before being transferred to Ljubostinja. Gregory Tsamblak notes that the transfer of the relics of the Byzantine saint was celebrated as the slava of all of Serbia, and writes that "the Serbian land found an inexhaustible wealth", "the protector of the Serbian scepter".
Towards the end of their lives, both nuns took the vow of the Great Schema, and received new monastic names - Milica, i.e., Nun Evgenija, became Schema-nun Efrosinija, while Jefimija received the name Evpraksija. Princess Milica was called empress (Milica) even during her lifetime, and witnessed her own cult that the people cultivated over time, respecting her as a princess, the eldest nun, widow of a former ruler, and mother of a future ruler. Princess Milica was the de facto first abbess of Ljubostinja. It is not known which of the Kosovo widows took over that position after Milica's death, and before the monastery would become a male one.
Milica died before her friend, on 11 November 1405, and was buried in a sarcophagus on the left side. Although Jefimija died in 1406, a few months after the monastery's founder, she was buried in the founder's tomb, on the right side in the narthex. Their relics are still kept in the monastery today, as are the relics of Jefimija's son, Stefan Mrnjavčević. The original fresco painting was created precisely at that time, most likely between 1405 and 1409, i.e., at the latest by the split between her sons, Stefan and Vuk. The church was painted by the Greek painter Makarije Zograf from Zrze (not to be confused with Hieromonk Makarije). After the death of both nuns, Despot Stefan took the relics of Saint Petka and transferred them from Ljubostinja to Kalemegdan, most likely on 8 August according to the new calendar, 1406/1407.
In 1418, Ljubostinja became a male monastery. The first restoration of the monastery was carried out in 1448, and the second in 1661. During archaeological excavations, a hoard of coins (of foreign origin) was found beneath the altar floor, which was used in the restoration of Ljubostinja in the 17th century. The oldest known abbots of Ljubostinja Monastery were Simeon (mentioned in 1481), another Simeon (records from 1576 and 1581) and Isaija (in 1643). There are records that during their time, the monastery also celebrated the translation of the relics of Saint Archdeacon Stephen (2 August according to the calendar at the time), which later hinted to many historians the authenticity of the legend about the small church that united the ruling couple Hrebeljanović.
It was a long-held incorrect belief that Ljubostinja was deserted throughout the entire 17th century. Sevastijan Putnik records the oldest memories of the locals of the Trstenik area, who passed down the legend that for a whole century, during the day, only cuckoos could be heard from Ljubostinja, and when night fell - owls, which inhabited the bell tower and ruined domes. Services in Ljubostinja were continuously held from its founding until the Great Migrations of the Serbs (1690), as evidenced by records from 1643 and 1673. At the end of the 17th century, the monastery did become deserted, but it was revived again at the beginning of the 18th century.
In 1732, a theological-monastic school in Ljubostinja under the direction of Father Arsenije is mentioned. Namely, Abbot Arsenije "Ljubostinjski", who managed the monastery from (circa) 1720 to 1736, was one of the most prominent spiritual fathers of his time, whom priests and monks from all over Serbia came to for instruction. He was the first abbot of the monastery whose life was at least somewhat known, and the first to set the framework of expectations for subsequent heads of the monastery regarding the reputation and influence they ought to enjoy among the people and the Church. After him, and in support of the theory that Ljubostinja was deserted, Arsenije "Vtori" ("the second", probably after Arsenije "Ljubostinjski" - "the first") is mentioned, who around 1780 cleared the thicket that had grown on the very roof of the church, cleaned the interior of dirt, chased away sheep that grazed in the monastery, and covered the church with shingles.
The monastery played a major role during the Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791) and Koča's Frontier (1788-1791), when the monks of Ljubostinja helped the Austrians against the Turks. Abbot Vićentije (Jovanović) admitted that between 1781 and 1788 he hid Austrian soldiers, officers, and spies in the monastery. It was from here that the Serbian people were called to an uprising. According to some sources, Koča Anđelković hid in Ljubostinja after the collapse of the rebellion, although this claim is often disputed. The Turks burned and plundered the monastery in retaliation in the first days of May 1788. At that time, most of the original frescoes were destroyed. Also, when the monastery was burned down, a secret treasury was discovered hidden in the monastery wall behind an icon, where Princess Milica kept her treasure. Among the looted valuables was the crown of Prince Lazar, hidden for 400 years. The Turks took it from Ljubostinja to Istanbul, where it remains today. Soon after, the abbot and other monks abandoned the monastery. This completed eighteen years of Vićentije's leadership (1770-1788). Ljubostinja became deserted, but even empty it was plundered once more in 1804, right before the First Serbian Uprising.
The monastery was not without monks for long. Already during the First Serbian Uprising, the combative priest Nastasije "Kazak" (or "Kozak" - he associated with the Russians and Cossacks), took over the management of the monastery, about whom it is recorded that he was vicious and cruel in defending the monastery's property from enemy assaults. Abbot Nastasije organized hajduk bands and attacked the Turks alongside Karađorđe. His fate remained unknown, since a certain priest Spasoje is already mentioned as the administrator of Ljubostinja in 1807.
Although history teaches that Ljubostinja was abandoned in the period between 1788 and roughly 1804, one study states that the church's frescoes were restored for the third time in 1799. It is not known for sure whether Ljubostinja was truly deserted, whether someone from the old monastery brethren repainted the church, or if it was an unknown wandering painter. The fact remains that next to the sarcophagus of Princess Milica, there is a single fresco from 1799, which simply says: Dimitri Basa, servant of God.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Ljubostinja”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.