DOCUMENTARY WORLD HERITAGE IN SERBIA
Documentary heritage is a legacy of humankind, through which we can look back into the past, enrich our present lives, and look into the future with the boldness forged by enduring memories. UNESCO ‘s Memory of the World Programme is an international initiative launched to guard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, calling upon the preservation of the valuable archive holdings and library collections all over the world and ensuring their wide dissemination. Among numerous collections, archives, manuscripts and documents from all over the world, UNESCO’s Memory of the world register list documentary heritage found in Serbia’s museums and archives which corresponds to the strict selection criteria regarding world significance and outstanding universal value – The Miroslav Gospel, a manuscript from 1180, the Nikola Tesla’s Archive, and the Telegram of Austria-Hungary`s declaration of war on Serbia.
Photo: Slava
Miroslav Gospel
The Miroslav Gospel, a manuscript dating from around 1180 with miniatures of outstanding beauty, is the representative of a group of illuminated manuscripts of specific style and iconography resulting from fusion of elements of the West (Italy) and the East (Byzantium). This Serbian script that the concept of book decoration shares with other Orthodox Slavs and the style with the miniatures originating from mid-Italian scriptoria, is actually one of the most important testimonies of the artistic influences paths made from the West to the East and back. The Miroslav Gospel documents the liturgic structure of the evangelistary and an important stage of development of the Rascian orthography, the importance of which goes beyond the mediaeval Serbia boundaries. The valuable material - parchment and gilding - has been preserved almost completely and documents well the endowment power of Christian princes in the Balkans by the end of the 12th C. By its style which is the mixture of the influences from the West and the East, the Miroslav Gospel is the unique manuscript of its kind in the region, as well as in the world. By its beauty and uniqueness the Miroslav Gospel will influence later other manuscripts of the region, as well as of the Medieval Europe. This manuscript represents the most precious and significant document in cultural heritage in Serbia.
Nikola Tesla's Archive
Not far from the Patriarchate of Peć lies Dečani monastery, the largest sacral building of medieval Serbia. It was erected by King Stefan Uroš III Dečanski in the 14th Century and it served both as a shrine and a family mausoleum.The underlying structure of a typical Byzantine temple is encased in a Romanesque-style façade, with patterns made of successive horizontal rows of light-yellow and purple-red marble and an abundance of sculptural decorations. An instantly recognisable feature is the imposing dome, measuring a full 28 metres in height.During the Middle Ages, the monastery gathered scholars and artists, who painted the monastery with more than a thousand individual figures and scenes from the history of Christianity, grouped into more than 20 cycles, including the portraits of the monastery’s patrons and other members of the Nemanjić dynasty.
Dečani is also one of the few Serbian churches where the original stone iconostasis and most of the 14th-Century icons have been preserved. The monastery’s treasury holds some 60 icons painted between the 14th and the 17th Century, as well as numerous manuscripts, books and church artefacts.
Photo: Ansambl Kolo
Photo: WWI Poster Archive
Telegram of Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia
On July 28th 1914, Austria Hungary sent a telegram to Serbia declaring war. This event marked the beginning of the First World War – one of the world's most tragic conflicts in the history of human race and initiated the era of unprecedented suffering. Serbia lost more than 1.2 million inhabitants during the WWI, which represented more than one third of its overall population and more than one half of its male population.
The telegram is the unique testimony of the world's diplomacy and an internationally important document.
Srpska epska poezija - Kosovski ciklus
Felix Romuliana in Gamzigrad is the only site of classical antiquity in Serbia to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. The imperial palace built by the Roman Emperor Galerius in the 3rd and 4th Centuries to honour his mother Romula is flanked by massive walls, which used to protect the city from barbarians in ancient times.
Visitors find the northern part of the palace with a small temple particularly attractive because of its well-reserved ancient altar and the strong pillars around it. In the southern part of the palace, you can see the ruins of a large temple with two crypts, a horreum and a Roman thermae – a luxury bath for Roman emperors.
Owing to its well-preserved buildings, which are among the finest examples of tetrarchic imperial architecture in these parts, as well as its beautiful frescoes and floor mosaics with geometric and figurative patterns, Felix Romuliana is a classical antiquity site of immense international importance.
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Naivna umetnost
Not far from the Patriarchate of Peć lies Dečani monastery, the largest sacral building of medieval Serbia. It was erected by King Stefan Uroš III Dečanski in the 14th Century and it served both as a shrine and a family mausoleum.The underlying structure of a typical Byzantine temple is encased in a Romanesque-style façade, with patterns made of successive horizontal rows of light-yellow and purple-red marble and an abundance of sculptural decorations. An instantly recognisable feature is the imposing dome, measuring a full 28 metres in height.During the Middle Ages, the monastery gathered scholars and artists, who painted the monastery with more than a thousand individual figures and scenes from the history of Christianity, grouped into more than 20 cycles, including the portraits of the monastery’s patrons and other members of the Nemanjić dynasty.
Dečani is also one of the few Serbian churches where the original stone iconostasis and most of the 14th-Century icons have been preserved. The monastery’s treasury holds some 60 icons painted between the 14th and the 17th Century, as well as numerous manuscripts, books and church artefacts.
Autor: Sava Stojkov
Vinčanska kultura
Stećci, mediaeval tombstone graveyards, offer a unique testimony to the cultural tradition of the Serbian peoples. These lavishly adorned tombstones of various shapes were carved between the second half of the 12th Century and the 16th Century.
Stećci are scattered on the sites of former necropolises, on more than 200 sites in southwestern Serbia. Apart from Serbia, stećci are also found on sites across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia.
16th Century.
Stećci are scattered on the sites of former necropolises, on more than 200 sites in southwestern Serbia. Apart from Serbia, stećci are also found on sites across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia.
16th Century.Stećci are scattered on the sites of former necropolises, on more than 200 sites in southwestern Serbia. Apart from Serbia, stećci are also found on sites across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia.
Srpske tužbalice
The Patriarchate of Peć is a large monastery complex near the city of Peć, comprised of four churches built next to one another, creating a unique architectural whole.
The oldest among them, the Church of the Holy Apostles, was built in the third decade of the 13th Century, becoming the new seat of the Serbian Archiepiscopate. The Church of Saint Demetrius, the Church of the Mother of God and the small Church of Saint Nicholas were built in the early 14th Century.The walls of these churches in Peć bear witness to a succession of various styles in mediaeval fresco painting. The frescoes at the Patriarchate of Peć were painted between the 14th and the 18thCentury.The frescoes at the Church of Saint Demetrius, painted in the first half of the 14th Century, are characterised by an unusual level of attention to detail. At the entrance to the church, you will see portraits of members of the Serbian dynasty of Nemanjić, a common motif on the walls of Serbian medieval monasteries. The treasury of this church keeps icons, manuscripts and other artefacts. Serbian King Dušan, the mightiest of all Serbian rulers, during whose reign the medieval Serbian state reached the peak of its power, was crowned in this church.
Krajputaši
Studenica, one of the most beautiful 12th-Century Serbian Monasteries, was built by Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the Nemanjić dynasty, which would rule Serbia for two whole centuries. He is also buried under the vaults of this magnificent endowment.
This monument built in the Raška style is characterised by walls reinforced with shining-white marble and finely-crafted and exquisite relief decorations on its windows. Here you can see frescoes which are considered masterpieces of 13th-Century art. The walls of King’s Church within the monastery’s complex were painted by Mihailo and Evtihije, renowned painters of the period. Their artwork depicts scenes from the life of the Mother of God, masterfully painted and harmoniously combined into a single whole.
Studenica is also known for priceless works of applied art, which are kept at the monastery’s vault, including the ring of Stefan Nemanja, shrouds and many other valuable items.
Dušan's Code
Studenica, one of the most beautiful 12th-Century Serbian Monasteries, was built by Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the Nemanjić dynasty, which would rule Serbia for two whole centuries. He is also buried under the vaults of this magnificent endowment.
This monument built in the Raška style is characterised by walls reinforced with shining-white marble and finely-crafted and exquisite relief decorations on its windows. Here you can see frescoes which are considered masterpieces of 13th-Century art. The walls of King’s Church within the monastery’s complex were painted by Mihailo and Evtihije, renowned painters of the period. Their artwork depicts scenes from the life of the Mother of God, masterfully painted and harmoniously combined into a single whole.
Studenica is also known for priceless works of applied art, which are kept at the monastery’s vault, including the ring of Stefan Nemanja, shrouds and many other valuable items.
Ilustration: Marinko Lugonja
Ilustration: Marinko Lugonja
The Nomocanon of Saint Sava
Studenica, one of the most beautiful 12th-Century Serbian Monasteries, was built by Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the Nemanjić dynasty, which would rule Serbia for two whole centuries. He is also buried under the vaults of this magnificent endowment.
This monument built in the Raška style is characterised by walls reinforced with shining-white marble and finely-crafted and exquisite relief decorations on its windows. Here you can see frescoes which are considered masterpieces of 13th-Century art. The walls of King’s Church within the monastery’s complex were painted by Mihailo and Evtihije, renowned painters of the period. Their artwork depicts scenes from the life of the Mother of God, masterfully painted and harmoniously combined into a single whole.
Studenica is also known for priceless works of applied art, which are kept at the monastery’s vault, including the ring of Stefan Nemanja, shrouds and many other valuable items.