Corridor: Via Adriatica
Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zitomislic
Type: Christian religious centre
Epoch: Middle Ages
Theme: Christian Monasteries
World Heritage:

The entire history of the monastery is linked to the Miloradovi?- Hrabren family. Another, a smaller church already stood on the site prior to 1566, when permission was granted for the Church of the Annunciation in ?itomisli? to be renovated.
Thanks to various artists, the modest architecture of the church gradually acquired a range of embellishments: capitals resembling ste?aks (mediaeval Bosnian gravestones), frescoes, the gilded, carved iconostasis, iconography, a carved portal, the great ambo, illuminated manuscripts, and goldsmiths’ work of artistic quality such as a reliquary, thurible, collection plate, crucifixes and icon lamp. One of the works of art that makes the ?itomisli? monastery unique among Serbian Orthodox monasteries of the Middle Ages is a highly unusual capital showing a deer hunt and bear hunt of the kind featured on ste?aks. The iconostasis, too, is of equal significance; it is the work of a local carver who used motifs from late gothic Dalmatian polyptychs and Islamic decorative art, making it a unique example among all known wood carvings dating from that period in the region. Its value is still further enhanced by its painted section with an inimitable work of representative Orthodox ecclesiastical art. The royal doors, too, painted by Radul in 1675, are of great value.
Ten years ago the church and its konak (lodgings) were completely destroyed, and during the 2005 rehabilitation works of the whole ensemble were conducted.

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