Monastery of St. John the Baptist

The church of the monastery of John the Baptist was built on the foundations of an older building during the time of Abbot Theodosius, during the reign of Sultan Selim. The founder was Andronicus of the Cantacuzino royal family with his brothers. The facade of the monastery is richly decorated with stone and brick, and it stands out among the sacral buildings of that time for the beauty of its architecture. The church was painted - in 1524 - during the time of Abbot Luka. The nave was painted then, and the narthex in 1583. In the nave, in the highest zone, the Mother of God, Christ and the Elders of the day are shown. In the second zone, the prophets are painted, in the third depiction of great holidays whose cycle is reduced, and in the fourth scene of the suffering of Christ. Scenes dedicated to the patron saint of the church are shown on the south wall. The apse depicts the Mother of God with Christ surrounded by archbishops. The medallions depict the busts of archbishops, apostles, holy women and holy warriors. Interestingly, it is the oldest depiction of the Metropolitan of Ephesus, Mark Eugene. The frescoes in the narthex are a special unit in terms of time and style, as well as the west facade and the north wall of the church. In the narthex, Christ Emmanuel surrounded by angels and the Mother of God between the archangels Michael and Gabriel are depicted at the top of the vault. All the upper surfaces are dedicated to the Mother of God, and in the lower zones the performances are dedicated to the patron saint of the church, which completes his cycle. Frescoes in the church of St. John the Baptist are extremely important for understanding the art of the period from the fall of the Despotate to the restoration of the Patriarchate because there are very few monuments of monumental painting of that time. The frescoes are unique in their expression because the directions of the 16th century cannot be sensed in them, nor can the traditions of the last 15th century be observed. They were made in the tradition of academic calm expression from the middle of the 14th century. They are characterized by simplicity and refinement of form. Church of St. JovanaPreteče bears all the hallmarks of the time in which it was built and all the features of the architecture of the post-Byzantine era, which is based on the tradition of the Moravian style. The church is a single-nave building with an elongated rectangular base with a semicircular apse on the east side. It is completely vaulted with a semi-circular vault. An open porch with pillars was made in front of the church on the west side. Special attention was paid to the external appearance of the church, the decorativeness of the facade masonry was achieved by the correct, alternating use of stone and brick atypical for creation in the 16th century, which shows that the founders were wealthy nobles under the Turks. Monastery of St. Jovana burned down in 1788, when all the buildings around the church burned down. Barely renovated, the monastery suffered even more severely during the First Serbian Uprising, when in 1809 these areas were also affected by insurgent actions, monks were dispersed and both monasteries were burned. The current residence was built at the end of the 19th century. On the occasion of marking the five centuries of existence of the monastery of St. Jovana, a complete renovation of the monastery complex was done, the monastery was completely fenced, a new konak, pier, bell tower, chapel, winter church were built, the yard was arranged, an auxiliary building was erected, frescoes were renewed, the church was covered and a fraternity was brought.