Socanica Monastery in Kosovo and Metohija

 

In the northern part of Kosovo and Metohija, not far from the way from Raska to Kosovoska Mitrovica lays the peaceful monastery Socanica.

 the bell tower and the church

The entrance of the church

There aren’t hardly written things about the beginning of this monastery, only from a grave we know that around 1643 a priest Stefan was burried here and it looks that it then already was a monastery. The baptistery was build in 1862 on the bottom of the old distroyed church which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

 the candleholder outside the church

It’s not know when that church was build or when the Turks destroyed it, there are only signs that a lot of people always brought Slava cakes and hold gatherings, and confirm so an interrupted veneration of the church over the entire time.

the guesthouse (конак)

A story says, that a municipal forest ranger and member of the Socanica community and also patron and builder of the todays temple was Cirko Terzic of Brzanca. 

 From some writings it’s also known that the temple was build bigger than the Turks would have alowded so that the members of the church council had to stay in prison for an entire year and Cirko Terzic, seen as the responsible for that was killed.

The monks that live today in the monastery keep the entire monastery going and here I would like to share a couple of pictures from my visit at the monastery. 

 

We had coffee, juice, selfmade cakes (by the monks) and rakija on the terasse of the guesthouse in a very pleasant atmosphere and we had a very nice talk with the monks that have become good friends of my friends in Zvecan.

What fascinated me a lot is the long table in the garden. It can seat 130 - 140 people and it's located under trees with view to the valley.
The monastery has a beautiful website (in serbian) here: www.manastirsocanica.com