- Address: Przno, Montenegro
- Denomination: Orthodox
- Year of foundation: 1413
Montenegro is a country most of the inhabitants of which profess Orthodoxy. Many beautiful churches and churches have been built here, but with special charm and tranquility it is blowing from small and not very popular monasteries. There is something soothing, giving tranquility and harmony, in the old walls of these shrines.
general information
Monastery of Praskvica in Montenegro belongs to the municipality of Budva , it is located in the mountains near Pashtovichy. The exact date of the foundation of the shrine is unknown. There are several expected dates:
- 1050 - during the reign of Stephen Vojislav;
- 1307 - after visiting Kotor by the Serbian King Milutin;
- 1413 - the first time in the charter of Balsha III approved the construction of the church of St. Nicholas. This date is considered the most likely of all.
The name of the monastery has its own history: in the spring streams streaming from the mountains carried the aroma of peaches. Praske in translation from Serbian and there is a peach.
Praskvitza Architecture
The monastic complex consists of two churches: St. Nicholas and the Holy Trinity. Unfortunately, in the pristine form of the structure to our days have not reached. In 1812, the buildings were destroyed by the French army, many important documents were lost irrevocably.
In the form in which the Church of St. Nicholas we see now, it began to be built at the end of the XIX century. The main part of the painting was done by the Greek icon painter KF. Aspiri. Also part of the new church was the surviving frescoes and paintings from the original church.
The Church of the Holy Trinity is another temple in the complex, located in the inner part of the courtyard. It was built in the XVII century. The painter Radul painted a fresco, and the pride of the church - the gilded iconostasis - was performed by D. Daskal.
What to see?
In the cells of the monastery there are a museum and a library, the book fund of which has more than 5000 thousand copies. In the walls of the museum are stored collections of icons, weapons, manuscripts and documents. A special role is given to the letters of the Russian rulers of Paul I and Catherine the Great, who played a significant role in the fate of the monastery, donating not only money, but also other values. The main attractions of the Monastery of Praskviz are:
- a golden cross belonging to the ruler Dusan;
- The ancient handwritten Gospel is the gift of Emperor Paul I;
- an ancient monastic seal.
Legends of the Monastery of Praskvitz
With Russia, the temple complex is connected and one more story. In the XVIII century in Monastery Praskvitsa in Montenegro arrived one-armed man. Taking a lunch of silence, he began to build a road from the church to the village of Chelobrdo. The work took the monk almost ten years. Only on his deathbed it turned out that a man is a former military man named Yegor Stroganov. With his hard work, he repaid a mortal sin - killing an officer in the duel that dishonored his daughter.
How to get there?
Finding the monastery of Praskvica is very simple: from the city of Przno go by motorway E65 / E80 or walk. From other cities of Budva County, you can take buses to the stop Sveti Stefan .
Interesting to know
Some cognitive facts about the monastery:
- the monastery parish includes other churches: the Sveti Stefan's Church, the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky;
- For a long time at the monastery there was a school where the monks taught children from the nearest settlements;
- The strongest earthquake in 1979 caused serious damage to temple buildings. Some of them have already been restored, but the reconstruction is still going on;
- The entrance to Praskviz Monastery is free. The rules of the visit (clothes, hats) are the same as in other Orthodox churches.