SAINT-NICOLAS CHURCH IN KRUPA NA VRBASU

Erected in wood in 1735, this small Serbian Orthodox church (Crkva Sveti Nikole u Krupi na Vrbasu/Црква Светог Николе у Крупи на Врбасу) is located near the source of the Krupa River, which goes on to flow further down the Vrbas. Measuring 8 m in length and 6 m in width, it was later modified with the addition of an apse in the 19th century and a very recent small bell tower, also made of wood. It houses a wooden iconostasis, 19th century icons and Greek engravings printed in Venice in the 18th century. In 1911, there were eighty wooden churches in the Banja Luka region, most of them dating from the 18th century. Called "log churches"(crkve brvnare), they have mostly disappeared due to lack of maintenance. Completely built of wood, including the roof made of shingles, they have a very simple shape (without an apse) and resemble the houses of the peasants of the time. Besides the one in Krupa na Vrbasu, there are two others in the area: the Church of the Ascension of Christ in Kolima (near Stričići) and the Church of St. Nicholas in Romanovci (Црква Брвнара у Романовцима/Crkva Brvnara u Romanovcima - near Banja Luka airport. GPS: 44.961518, 17.261795). The latter was erected in the mid-18th century and measures 7.40 m by 4.10 m. Like many wooden churches in the Balkans, legend has it that the Ottomans gave their consent to the construction, on condition that the site be completed in one day.