Manastir Blagoveštenje

History of the monastery

The Annunciation Monastery is located on the northern slopes of the Rudnik Mountain, in the gorge of the Annunciation River. Although it is believed that this monastery was built at the end of the 14th century, during the reign of Emperor Lazar, his first written testimony is related to Turkish documents from 1467. The founder of this monastery has remained unknown to this day. During the Turkish rule, the monastery of the Annunciation was destroyed several times, while during the Great Migration of Serbs in 1690 it was abandoned. This monastery was revived in 1791, when the student fraternity with Archimandrite Gregory arrived, which arranged the monastery and expanded the facilities of that time. Then a rectangular narthex was added and all the interior walls were painted. The Monastery of the Annunciation played a significant role in the uprising - gunpowder was made next to it during the First Serbian Uprising, and in 1814 a assembly of Serbian champions was held, who sent a letter to the Russian Tsar to help them fight the Turks.

Appearance and characteristics of the monastery
The monastery church is a modest single-nave building with a deep semicircular apse. Today, it consists of 3 connected units: a nave with an altar space, a narthex and a bell tower. The oldest part, the nave with the altar space, was built at the beginning of the 15th century. The altar space is separated from the nave by an iconostasis partition. The hemisphere covers the apse, while the semicircular vault covers the nave. The roof surface was originally covered with lead plates, then clique, and today it is covered with copper sheet. During the reign of Miloš Obrenović, the monastery of the Annunciation was thoroughly renovated. At that time, a large bell tower was erected in the western part of the church, the monastery lodgings were renovated and the entire complex is surrounded by a wall. The earliest icons preserved in the Annunciation Monastery date back to the 18th century, while the icons of the Council of the Holy Archangels and the Holy Archdeacon Stefan date from the middle of the 19th century.

How to get to the monastery of the Annunciation?

The Monastery of the Annunciation is located near the town of Stragari. If you go by car, from the Serbian capital to this monastery you will need a little less than 2 hours drive (via Route 25).
The town of Arandjelovac is about thirty kilometers away from this monastery, so you will need about 40 minutes by car or taxi (via Route 367). You can call one of the free contact lines in Arandjelovac and schedule your transport: 0800 32-32-32, 0800 22-22-24 or 0800 725-725.

Additional information
Today, the cramped port of the Annunciation Monastery is surrounded by newer lodgings, a dining room, as well as auxiliary monastery buildings. Conservation and restoration works on the frescoes of this monastery began in 1981, while on the iconostasis they began in 1990.