Church of the Holy Trinity
What remains of the large complex.
BubaFoton — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pavle Marjanovic — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pavle Marjanovic — CC BY-SA 3.0 · BubaFoton — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dekanski — CC BY-SA 4.0
Sopoćani Monastery is a 13th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery near the source of the Raška River, about 15 km by road west of Novi Pazar. Since 1979 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with nearby Stari Ras, and it is famous in Byzantine art history for its wall paintings. King Stefan Uroš I built it between 1259 and 1270 as his burial place, and his great-grandson King Dušan extended and renovated it in the mid 14th century. Of the once large complex, with dining rooms and residences, only the Church of the Holy Trinity remains. The whole area was the centre of the medieval Serbian state. The church stands in a quiet green valley, with plain stone walls and a tall bell tower in front. Art historians see the wall paintings inside, made around 1263 to 1268, as marking a shift between periods of Byzantine art. They remain striking, even though the building stood exposed to the weather for more than two centuries. The monastery is a place of worship, so keep your voice down, dress modestly and ask before taking pictures inside. It is 12 km in a straight line from the Altun-Alem Mosque in Novi Pazar, and the remains of Stari Ras are nearby. A car or taxi is simplest, as we found no reliable regular bus line.
What remains of the large complex.
Calm all around the monastery.
An old capital close by.
Near the source of the Raška, west of Novi Pazar
For its place in Byzantine art history and as part of medieval Serbia's heartland, along with Stari Ras.
By car or taxi from Novi Pazar, about 15 km by road.