 View of the Banjska monastery church | |
 Interactive map of Banjska monastery | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Манастир Светог архиђакона Стефана - Бањска |
| Order | Serbian Orthodox |
| Established | 1317 (reestablished in 2004) |
| Disestablished | 16th century |
| Dedicated to | Saint ArchdeaconStephen |
| Diocese | Eparchy of Raška and Prizren |
| People | |
| Founder | King of SerbiaStefan Uroš II Milutin |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | Cultural monument of Exceptional Importance |
| Designated date | 26 August 1947[1] |
| Site | |
| Location | Hill nearZvečan |
| Country |  Kosovo |
| Public access | Limited |
TheBanjska Monastery (Albanian:Manastiri i Banjskës;Serbian:Манастир Бањска,romanized: Manastir Banjska,listenⓘ) is aSerbian Orthodox monastery in theBanjska village nearZvečan,Kosovo.
The monastery was the site ofBanjska attack, an attack carried by Serbmilitants againstKosovo Police on 24 September 2023.
The monastery, along with the Church of St Stephen, was built between 1313 and 1317, founded by Serbian KingStefan Milutin, one of the most powerful rulers of his time and of theNemanjić dynasty.[2] Milutin built the church as hismausoleum (burial place), and it is where he was first laid to rest in 1321.[3][4] However, following theBattle of Kosovo (1389), his body was moved toTrepča and then in 1460 toSofia (Bulgaria), where it lies to this day.[5]
The monumental building with its church, library, monks' quarters and "imperial palace" began to fall into disrepair very early. At the beginning of the 15th century, a fire destroyed the library and in the second half of the same century, the monastery was probably abandoned.Benedikt Kuprešić, a traveller, mentioned that the monastery was razed to the ground in the 16th century on the orders of theOttoman Sultan, as Christians who had fled Ottoman tyranny were gathering in it.
St Stephen's, almost totally destroyed, was turned into amosque in the 19th century and served as such untilWorld War I. The first conservation activity was carried out in 1939 and again in 1990 when the church was partly rebuilt. The monastery is one of the few for which the founding charter has been preserved; it was granted a large estate at its founding, of 75 villages and 8 pastures.[6] As the complex was built as the final resting place of a king, the bishopric was "upgraded" to a stavropegial monastery - roughly translated, an Imperial monastery, fourth by rank in the state (afterStudenica,Mileševa andSopoćani).
The building works were led byArchbishop Danilo II,[7] at that time a bishop, later Serbian Archbishop, who was a close confidant to the king.[8] According to medieval sources, as well as an oral tradition, Banjska was one of the most beautiful Serbian monasteries, built in theRaška architectural style, which was used for all royal mausoleums, fromStefan Nemanja's Studenica monastery toEmperor Dušan'sMonastery of the Holy Archangels. The monastery was declared aMonument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990, and was protected by theRepublic of Serbia.[9]
On 24 September 2023, the monastery wasstormed by a group of 30 armed Serbs who engaged in a violent confrontation withKosovo Police and barricaded themselves inside, after a Kosovan officer was ambushed and killed hours earlier.[10][11] After hours, the Kosovo Forces successfully entered the monastery and apprehended the Serb militants ultimately bringing an end to the tense situation.[12]
42°58′17″N20°46′57″E / 42.97139°N 20.78250°E /42.97139; 20.78250
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