Studenica Monastery

Studenica Monastery, located in the Raška district of central Serbia, is the largest and richest of
Serbia’s Orthodox monasteries. It was founded near Studenica river in the late 12th century by
Stefan Nemanja, also known as Saint Simeon, who established the medieval Serbian state. His
remains, as well as those of his wife Anastasia and of the first Serbian king, Stephen the
First-Crowned, rest in this monastery. It is there that Stefan Nemanja’s youngest son, Saint
Sava Nemanjić, initiated the independent Serbian Orthodox Church in 1219 and wrote the first
literary work in the Serbian language. The complex’s two principal monuments, the Church of
the Virgin and the King’s Church, enshrine priceless collections of 13th- and 14th-century
Byzantine paintings. Studenica became the most important monastery in Serbia, and has
remained so to the present day. The owner of the property is the Serbian Orthodox Church, and
the owner of most of the area included in the buffer zone is the Republic of Serbia. Studenica
Monastery benefits from the highest level of legal protection in the Republic of Serbia,
established by the 1994 Law of Cultural Heritage. Up until the 19th century, Studenica remained
the symbol of this culture.

CAN'T MISS

1. City of Niš, Ćele Tower;
2. Rafting on Ibar;
3. Kraljevo-City of Kings in the valley of centuries.