Studenica Monastery

The Studenica Monastery is known for its collection of 13th and 14th century Byzantine-style fresco paintings

Studenica Monastery - King's Church

This postcard was sent by Renato

Studenica Monastery, located in the Raška district of central Serbia, is the largest and richest of Serbia’s Orthodox monasteries. It was founded near Studenica river in the late 12th century by Stefan Nemanja, also known as Saint Simeon, who established the medieval Serbian state. His remains, as well as those of his wife Anastasia and of the first Serbian king, Stephen the First-Crowned, rest in this monastery. It is there that Stefan Nemanja’s youngest son, Saint Sava Nemanjić, initiated the independent Serbian Orthodox Church in 1219 and wrote the first literary work in the Serbian language. The complex’s two principal monuments, the Church of the Virgin and the King’s Church, enshrine priceless collections of 13th- and 14th-century Byzantine paintings. Studenica became the most important monastery in Serbia, and has remained so to the present day.

The modestly scaled King’s Church was founded in 1314 by King Milutin, who commissioned the renowned Salonican painters Michael and Eutychius to decorate the church’s interior with frescoes. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/389