DEČANI MONASTERY

The Serbian Orthodox Monastery of Dečani is also called Visoki Dečani Monastery (Манастир Високи Дечани/Manastir Visoki Dečani, Manastiri i Deçanit). Founded in 1330 and listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2004, it is the most beautiful monument in Kosovo and one of the most striking religious sites in Europe. Located in the hollow of a bucolic wooded valley, but protected like an entrenched camp by KFOR soldiers, this complex owes its fame to its church of Christ-Pantocrator. The highest Serbian church of the Middle Ages, it is a building with a unique architecture where Serbian, Byzantine, Dalmatian, Romanesque and Gothic styles blend gracefully. It is above all the medieval church with the largest number of frescoes in the world: about a thousand. Covering all the interior walls, they are mostly very well preserved for seven centuries. In fact, if there was only one monument to visit in Kosovo, this would be it. The buildings surrounding the church contain one of the richest monastic treasures in the Balkans, but only a select few have access. As you walk through the beautifully sloping courtyard with its impeccable lawn, you will discover some twenty tombs of monks from the 19th and 20th centuries. At the pleasure of the guardians and monks, you may be invited to come and drink a glass of rakija with a loukoum, in the pure tradition of orthodox monastic hospitality.

History

The monastery of Dečani is the only major architectural achievement of the Serbian king Stefan Uroš III. He reigned only ten years (1321-1331) and died well before the end of the works (1350). But this achievement marked so much the spirits that the king was named from then on in reference to his monastery, Stefan Dečanski ("Stephen of Dečani").

Foundation. The monastery was established in what was then a hazelnut forest. The choice of the site was determined by the proximity of the stone quarries in the vicinity of Dečani, but also by its position between two other more famous quarries in the Peja/Peć and Mitrovica regions. Although the work on the church began in 1327, the monastery was officially founded by Stefan Dečanski in 1330, to celebrate his great victory over the Bulgarians in the same year, on June 28, at the Battle of Velbajd in Bulgaria. This marked the beginning of forty years of Serbian rule on the peninsula, briefly making the Nemanjić the most powerful dynasty in Europe. It was Stefan Dečanski's son, Stefan Dušan (1331-1355), who supervised the completion of the work, which ended with the last frescoes completed around 1350.

Parricide. This monastery carries the weight of bloody relations within the Nemanjić dynasty. If the church is dedicated to Christ Pantocrator ("all-powerful" in Greek), it is in memory of the Pantocrator Monastery in Constantinople. This is where Stefan Dečanski was exiled after being enucleated by his father, King Mitutin, in 1314. It is also in this Byzantine monastery that Stefan Dečanski claimed to have recovered his sight thanks to his protector, Saint Nicholas, a miraculous intervention that allowed him to ascend to the throne in 1321. But no supernatural force could prevent the king from being betrayed, imprisoned and finally strangled by his own son ten years later. As if to atone for this parricide, Stefan Dušan took special care to complete the monastery, making it his father's mausoleum, with a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas. He also made it the largest monument to the glory of the Nemanjić family, featuring his ancestors, but also his son, his wife and his nephew... who will tear each other apart immediately after his death, ending the dynasty in 1371.

Fame and prosperity. After the disappearance of the Nemanjić, and the battle of Kosovo Polje in 1389, the monastery remained under the control of the Serbian nobility until the final conquest of Kosovo by the Ottomans in 1455. The monastery benefits then during more than four centuries from the protection of the sultans. The presence of the relics of the holy and beloved king Stefan Dečanski makes Dečani one of the most important Serbian pilgrimage sites. The complex also derives its income from its metochurches (dependencies) in Isniq/Istinić (3 km northeast), Bivolak/Bivoljak (near Pristina), but also in Montenegro and Serbia. During the Ottoman period, it established itself as a great intellectual and artistic center. Written in the scriptorium of the monastery, the Chronicles of Dečani are thus a preponderant source for the history of Kosovo in the 15th century. However, this document should be taken with a grain of salt, both literally and figuratively. For example, the death of Stefan Dečanski is attributed by the monks to... a solar eclipse.

Firmans and voivodes. Despite the protection of the sultans, the monastery had to face armed Albanian-Ottoman gangs that burned the annex buildings twice in the 17th and 18th centuries. The complex being located in a poorly controlled fringe of the Empire, the higoumen (abbots) also had to assert their rights before the cadis (Islamic judges) of the local governors and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, after the Serbian Church had lost its independence (autocephaly) in 1776. In total, no less than sixty-five firmans (decrees signed by the sultan) and other official documents issued by the Ottoman authorities are preserved here. Over the centuries, they confirm the monastery's tax exemptions and its right to exploit properties. In the 19th century, the complex was placed under the protection of the local population by the sultan who appointed Albanian voivodes to ensure its security. In 1909, at the dawn of the departure of the Ottomans, the latter signed a secret agreement with the kingdom of Serbia in order to spare the monastery in case of conflict. This commitment will be respected.

Spared by the wars. At the end of the First Balkan War (1912-1913), Dečani returns to Serbia. It is richer than ever: it houses one of the most important monastic treasures in the Balkans, its precious church has been maintained and its buildings have been constantly rebuilt, expanded and beautified. Spared by the two world wars, except for some damage to the frescoes by Bulgarian soldiers in 1916, the monastery was classified in 1947 as a "cultural monument of exceptional importance in Serbia" by the authorities of socialist Yugoslavia. It escaped the Albanian uprising of March 1981. While Deçan/Dečani is the scene of intense fighting during the Kosovo war (1998-1999), the monastery opens its doors to Albanian and Roma families of the city. This is worth it to be spared once again.

Entrenched camp classified by Unesco. Since June 1999, the monastery is placed under the protection of KFOR. It is even the last monument in the country in this case. Since 2000, it has been the object of four grenade attacks, with a last attempt foiled in 2016. Meanwhile, in 2004, the monastery was classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Also protected by the Kosovar state heritage services since 2008, the monastery remains a very strong symbol of Serbian heritage. It attracts novices from all over the world and now has about 20 permanent monks. The monastery also tries to support the return of Serbian families from the region by offering them jobs in the agricultural field or as guides/guardians in charge of the visits.

Visit

Five things to know. You must leave your ID at the KFOR checkpoint during the tour. Proper attire is required. Photos are not permitted inside the church. A free guided tour in English (20 minutes) is offered. The store sells reproductions of icons and hand-painted icons, incense, body products, postcards, souvenirs, clothing, carved wooden crucifixes, CDs of monastic songs, books in English about Serbian monasteries in Kosovo, cheese, honey and rakija from the monastery's agricultural estate, and wines from Velika Hoča.