Grgeteg Monastery in Fruska Gora

This post belongs to the series about the beautiful monasteries of the Fruska Gora (the only mount of the extended flat Vojvodina region in the National Park of Fruska Gora which is also a well know tourist destination). The links to the first 6 monasteries of the series (Velika Remeta, Novo Hapovo, Krusedol, Jazak, Beocin and Vrdnik-Ravanica) are on the bottom of this post.

The Grgeteg Monastery (Манастир Гргетег).

The Grgeteg Monastery, with the church dedicated to Saint Nicholas and located on the southern slope of Mount Fruška Gora, was, according to a legend, built in the mid-fifteenth century by Despot Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk for his father, Grgur the Blind. The earliest historical data related to the Monastery are encountered in Turkish defters from the mid-sixteenth century.

Although prior to the Great Migration of Serbs it had been forsaken, its refurbishment took place in the beginning of the 18th century through endeavors of the Metropolitan Isaija Đaković. The baroquization of the church was undertaken between 1766 and 1771, during the Metropolitan Pavle Nenadović. 

Extensive refurbishment from the time of hegoumenos Ilarion Ruvarac, undertaken in the late 19th century, was supervised by an architect from Zagreb, Herman Bole. 

 

The older iconostasis, painted by Jakov Orfelin, was replaced by a smaller screen, whose author was Uroš Predić, executed in the style of academic realism. The Grgeteg Church is a single-nave building, with a round altar apse and rectangular choirs. The 18th century dome was removed during the last refurbishment, which insisted on a clear layout and symmetry, both in the interior of the church and on its façades. 

The monks dwelling quarters surround the church by all four sides. They originated during the Metropolitan Pavle Nenadović, in whose time a campanile—to be pulled down in WWII—was also erected. In the same period the iconostasis in the campanile chapel was destroyed, painted by Pierre Križanić. Systematic reconstruction and conservational works were begun in 1953.

(The text,slightly adapted, and the cover picture are from Spomenici kulture u Srbiji)  

Travel Tips:

Fruska Gora Monasteries Overview 
Velika Remeta Monastery in Fruska Gora
Novo Hapovo Monastery in Fruska Gora
Krusedol Monastery in Fruska Gora 
Jazak Monastery in Fruska Gora
Beocin Monastery in Fruska Gora

Vrdnik-Ravanica Monastery in Fruska Gora