Sopocani Monastery — Attraction in City of Novi Pazar

The Sopoćani Monastery (Serbian: Манастир Сопоћани / Manastir Sopoćani, pronounced [sǒpotɕani]), an endowment of King Stefan Uroš I of Serbia, was built from 1259 to 1270, near the source of the Raška River in the region of Ras, the centre of the Serbian medieval state. It is a designated World Heritage Site, added in 1979 with Stari Ras. The monastery is located 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) west of the town of Novi Pazar.

The frescoes in Sopoćani were painted in a similar style to that of Byzantine artists, however the origins of the artists themselves remain unknown. There was a rigid set of steps (setting of plaster, designing with charcoal, application of opsis in various layers, etc.) that were usually followed by these artists. However, there were exceptions to this method, as is the case with the Dormition, which was painted over visible division lines that are usually erased. Some historians believe this to be the result of an oversight on the part of the artist. Sopoćani was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia.

The church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

Outstanding Universal Value Brief synthesis

Stari Ras and Sopoćani is a serial property consisting of four separate components located in the Raška region of southern Serbia: Sopoćani Monastery, Djurdjevi Stupovi Monastery, Holy Apostles St Peter and St Paul Church (St Peter’s Church), and the archaeological site of the Medieval Town of Ras. The impressive collection of three ecclesiastical monuments dating from the 10th to the 13th centuries eminently illustrates the birth of artistic activity in medieval Serbia, which attained the highest standards in the art and culture of the Byzantine Empire and the regions of Central and Southeastern Europe. The unique architectural complex formed by numerous structures in Stari Ras (Old Ras), situated at a crossroads of eastern and western influences,testifies to the period from 12th to the early 14th centuries when the ancient town was the first capital of the Serbian state.

The frescoes in the Sopoćani Monastery church, dating from about 1270-1276, are among the finest in Byzantine and Serbian medieval art. These exceptional paintings represent the work of the best artists of that period who were unable to work in the territory of the Byzantine Empire and found refuge at the court of the Serbian king. At Sopoćani these artists introduced a refined spirit of antiquity to the prevailing medieval conventions. St George’s Church in the Djurdjevi Stupovi Monastery, founded in 1170-1171, is the earliest example of a distinctive new regional architecture that blended Romanesque and Byzantine styles. Known as the Raška School, this style came to dominate architecture in this area for almost a century and a half. The church also features two layers of preserved frescoes dating from 1175 and 1282-1283 that are among the finest from that period in the Balkans. The preserved frescoes in St Peter’s Church, built in the 10th century on the foundations of a 6thcentury baptistery and now the oldest surviving Christian church in the Balkans, also present evidence of the developments that took place in pictorial art between the 10th and...

Very peaceful, with beautiful frescoes. If you have time you can get here by bus from Novi Pazar bus terminal -- look for a bus bound for Melaje - Bacica (one bus leaves at 10:30am), pay the driver (RSD 170 one way) and tell him Sopocani. He may forget so watch your location on Google maps. When you're approaching Sopocani go to the front of the bus and remind him, he'll stop. There is no proper bus stop. He may drop you off at a closed black gate, you'll have to squeeze yourself through the opening beside it, on the other side you'll see a path that goes up the monastery. There's a proper entrance further down the road with a free parking lot if you have a car.

There's a €5 entrance fee to the monastery.

If you took the 10:30 bus, the same bus will be on its way back by about 12:00 -12:30. Again no bus stop -- wait on the other side of the road and flag it down when you see it

The attendants at Novi Pazar station and the monastery may have the wrong info on bus times, but at Novi Pazar I got the correct info asking again on another day (same guy). They don't speak English but can understand some and will do their...

Кtitor manastira je kralj Uroš I, vladao je od 1243. do 1276. godine. Ne znamo kada je manastir podignut, po nekim istoričarima 1260. godine. Mesto zidanja manastira pažljivo je birano. Crkva posvećena Svetoj Trojici i manastirski kompleks podignuti su u predivnom prirodnom okruženju, na izvoru-vrelu reke Raške. Po tom izvoru-vrelu (na staroslovenskom "sopot"), manastir je i dobio ime Sopotski manastir-Sopoćani. Graditelji Sopoćana ostali su do danas nepoznati. Sa velikom sigurnošću može se pretpostaviti da su poticali iz srpskog primorja (Diokletije i Dalmacije), da su bili majstori besprekornog zidanja, vešti u preciznom klesanju kamenja i dobri poznavaoci romaničke arhitekture.

Svetska slava Sopoćana počiva, pre svega, na freskama koje ukrašavaju zidove glavnog manastirskog zdanja, crkve Svete Trojice. Ne znamo ko su bili sopoćanski slikari kojima, u njihovom vremenu, nije bilo ravnih. Izvor su i uzor monumentalnog slikarstva koje istoričari umetnosti nazivaju "renesansa pre renesanse". To je potvrđeno i pre nekoliko decenija, kada je sopoćanski živopis Uspenja Presvete Bogorodice predstavljen na Svetskoj izložbi u Parizu i proglašen za najlepšu fresku srednjeg veka na svetu. U Sopoćane, decenijama, posetioci stižu sa svih kontinenata da vide freske iz 13. veka tako da dočaravaju dubinu prostora i plastične, trodimenzionalne, likove što je postupak koji će se u Evropi pojaviti tek nekoliko vekova kasnije, u italijanskoj renesansi. Sopoćani su jedinstveni, kako god ih posmatrali, možemo reći da se renesansa rodila u Sopoćanima.

Srpska srednjovekovna umetnost je jedinstvena po tome, što su u isto vreme i na istim objektima stvarali najbolji umetnici Istoka i Zapada. Stvorili su spomenik kulture koji ne predstavljaju kopiju nijednog spomenika kulture iz ranijeg perioda, i takve se analogije uzalud mogu tražiti. Profilisao se novi stil umetnosti Raški stil. Uticaj Istoka i Zapada je vidljiv,ali je originalnost dominantna.

Manastir je zapusteo 1689. godine kada su ga Turci razorili i spalili. Manastir je bio izložen zubu vremena sve do 1926. godine kada je obnovljen manastir i monaški život u njemu. Danas, Sopoćani su muški manastir i pod...