Description of the attraction
Djurdjevi-Stupovi is one of the oldest monasteries located near the ancient capital of Serbia, Stari Ras, and near the modern city of Novi Pazar. The name of the monastery is translated as "St. George's Towers", respectively, the monastery was named in honor of St. George.
Its founder was Stefan Nemanja, the Grand Duke of Raska (the old name of Serbia), the first ruler from the Nemanjić dynasty, which ruled in the XII-XIV centuries. Nemanja founded this Orthodox monastery before 1171 - probably even before he came to power. A few years later, a church with two towers was built on the territory of the monastery, because of which the monastery was called "George Towers".
The monastery was influential and prospered until Serbia was conquered by the Turks in the mid-second half of the 15th century. In the late 80s of the 17th century, during the war between the Turks and Austria, the monastery was abandoned by the monks and began to gradually deteriorate.
In the second half of the twentieth century, the authorities paid attention to the Djurdjevi-Stupovi monastery as a historical landmark and an example of the architecture of the Rash period, and began to preserve and restore it. In 1979, the monastery was endowed with the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and by the beginning of this century, its separate buildings were partially restored - cells and a refectory.
Today, a museum is open in the monastery, part of the decoration of the monastery, for example, frescoes, were transferred for storage to the National Museum, located in the capital of Serbia.
It is noteworthy that in neighboring Montenegro there is also the Djurdjevi-Stupovi monastery. It was founded by Stefan Nemani's nephew Stefan Pervoslav at the beginning of the 13th century.
