| name = Gračanica Monastery

| native_name = {{native name|sqsr|Manastiri iМанастир GraçanicësГрачаница|italics=no}}{{Clear}}<br>{{native name|sr|Манастир Грачаница/Manastir Gračanica}}{{Clear}}{{native name|italics=nosq|Manastiri i Graçanicës}}

| native_name_lang =

| image = Gracanica 1.jpg

| caption = View of the Gračanica Monastery = Gračanica

| other_names = Holy Virgin's temple of Gračanica

| order = [[Serbian Orthodox]]

| established = 1321

| disestablished = =

| mother = =

| diocese = [[Eparchy of Raška and Prizren]]

| churches = =

| founder = King [[Stefan Milutin]]

| dedication = [[Theotokos|Holy Virgin]]

| style = [[Serbo-Byzantine style]]

| people = [[Stefan Milutin]], Queen [[Simonida]], Patriarch [[Makarije Sokolović]]

| location = Village of [[Gračanica, Kosovo|Gračanica]], {{convert|5|km|mi|abbr=on}} from [[Pristina]], [[Kosovo]]

| coord = =

| oscoor = =

| remains = =

| public_access = yes

| embedded = {{designation list | embed=yes

The '''Gračanica Monastery''' ({{lang-sqsr|ManastiriМанастир iГрачаница|Manastir GraçanicësGračanica}}, {{IPA|sqsh|Manastiri i Gratʃanicəsɡratʃǎnitsa|pron}}; {{lang-srsq|МанастирManastiri Грачаница|Manastiri Gračanica}}, {{IPA|sh|ɡratʃǎnitsa|pronGraçanicës}}) is a [[Serbian Orthodox]] [[monastery]] located in [[Kosovo]]. It was built by the Serbian king [[Stefan Milutin]] in 1321. The monastery was declared a [[Monuments of Culture of Exceptional Importance (Serbia)|Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance]] in 1990, and on 13 July 2006<ref>{{Cite web |title=Medieval Monuments in Kosovo |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/724/ |access-date=26 March 2021 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |language=en}}</ref> it was placed on [[UNESCO]]'s [[World Heritage List]] under the name of [[Medieval Monuments in Kosovo]] as an extension of the [[Visoki Dečani]] site, which was overall placed on the [[List of World Heritage in Danger]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Heritage Committee puts Medieval Monuments in Kosovo on Danger List and extends site in Andorra, ending this year's inscriptions |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/268/ |access-date=26 March 2021 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |language=en}}</ref>

The monastery is located in [[Gračanica, Kosovo|Gračanica]], a Serbian enclave near [[Lipjan]], some {{convert|5|km|mi|abbr=on}} from [[Pristina]]. It is situated on the [[Kosovo field (region)|Kosovo field]], on the left riverbank of [[Gračanka]], a right tributary of the [[Sitnica river]]. The name is derived from Slavic ''Gradac'', a toponym of fortified cities.<ref name="LOMA20132LOMA2013">{{cite book |author=ALEKSANDAR LOMA |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nuy2BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |title=LA TOPONYMIE DE LA CHARTE DE FONDATION DE BANJSKA: Vers la conception d'un dictionnaire des noms de lieux de la Serbie medievale et une meilleure connaissance des structures onomastiques du slave commun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nuy2BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA133|year=2013|publisher=Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti |year=2013 |isbn=978-86-7025-621-7 |pages=133, 199, 260}}</ref>

[[File:Milutin_Gracanica_ktitor_detaljMilutin Gracanica ktitor detalj.jpg|left|thumb|''ktetor'' (founder) fresco with [[Stefan Milutin]] holding a model of the church, ca. 1321.]]

After the [[World War II]] it was renewed by [[Nun|nunsnun]]s and has been serving as a [[convent]] since. Today there are 24 sisters in the monastery who are active in [[icon painting]], [[agriculture]], [[sewing]] and other monastic obediences.

The monastery was declared a [[Monuments of Culture of Exceptional Importance (Serbia)|Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance]] in 1990, and on 13 July 2006 it was placed on [[UNESCO]]'s [[World Heritage List]] under the name of [[Medieval Monuments in Kosovo]] as an extension of the [[Visoki Dečani]] site which was overall placed on the [[List of World Heritage in Danger]].<ref name="Serbia_list2"Serbia_list>{{CHS-SANU|Link=385|Name=МАНАСТИР ГРАЧАНИЦА}}</ref><ref name="UNESCO_list2"UNESCO_list>{{cite web |last=UNESCO |year=2006 |title=List of World Heritage in Danger |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/danger/ |access-date=24 February 2013|year=2006}}</ref>

Gračanica represents the culmination of the [[Medieval Serbian art]] of building in the [[Serbo-Byzantine architecture|Serbo-Byzantine tradition]]. The church has the form of a double inscribed cross, one inside the other, the inner one providing for a vertical silhouette so as to raise the central dome upwards on a graded elaboration of masses. The [[dome]] rests on four free-standing [[Column|pillars]]. Above the spaces between the cross-shafts, four smaller domes give a regular structure to the whole [[Coronation|crowning]] complex. Three three-sided [[Apse|apsesapse]]s (the central one being the largest) put a mild distinction on the [[altar]] space externally. The [[diaconicon]] and the [[Prothesisprothesis (altar)|prothesis]] are separated by full walls. Between the [[nave]] and the [[narthex]] there are wide, heavy [[Column|pillars]] and the ''katolikon'' (conventual church) is on a level higher. The church was built in alternate courses of brick and stone. At the end of the 14th century an [[Narthexnarthex|exonarthex]] was added with double [[Arcade (architecture)|arcadesarcade]]s, but these were blinded in the 16th century.

[[File:Nadezda-Petrovic-kosovski-bozuri-Gracanica-1913..jpg|right|thumb|210x210pxright|210px|''Gračanica'' painted [[Fauvism|fauvistically]] by [[Nadežda Petrović]] (1913).]]

[[File:Meister_von_Gracanica_Meister von Gracanica (II)_001 001.jpg|left|thumb|210x210pxleft|210px|[[Dormition of the Mother of God]], fresco from Gračanica, c. 1321. (See also [[Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty|Palaiologian Renaissance]])]]

In the church three kinds of [[painting]] can be discerned. The earliest is found in the [[nave]], whereas two later ones can be recognized in the [[narthex]]. The [[Fresco|frescoesfresco]]es were painted in 1321–1322. The painting works have been well preserved. The compositions in the nave deal with the earthly life of [[Jesus]] and the [[ecclesiastical calendar]].

The focal paintings of Gračanica include the [[Liturgical year|Festival Cycle]], the [[Passion of Christ|Passion]] and the [[Miracles attributed to Jesus|miraclesmiracle]]s of [[Christ]]. Inside the narthex, there are portraits of the founders: [[Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia|King Milutin]] and [[Queen Simonida]], [[Queen Hélène d'Anjou]] (king's mother) as a [[nun]] and King Milutin as a [[monk]]. Of particular importance is the [[Nemanjić dynasty]] genealogy, the first ever painted, which starts with [[Stefan Nemanja]] and ends with Milutin. Also in the narthex, there is an exhaustive illustration of the [[Last Judgment]]. The scenes from the life of [[St. Nicholas]] are in the north [[parecclesion]], while the walls of the south one display scenes from the [[Old Testament]] and the lives of [[Christ]] and the [[Mother of God]]. The master painters supposedly were [[Michael and Eutihije]] with their assistants.

The paintings of Gračanica rank highest among the achievements of Milutin's period, characterized by influences of the [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantine]] splendiferous and luxurious style called the ''[[Palaiologos|Paleologan]] Renaissance''. In terms of style, they are also related to the art of the other of Milutin's foundations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Art of Gracanica Monastery |url=http://www.kosovo.net/gracanica1.html |access-date=27 March 2021 |website=www.kosovo.net}}</ref>

File:Monastery_of_Gračanica_1913Monastery of Gračanica 1913.jpg|''"Gračanica"'', ''"Autochrome"'', Auguste Léon, 1913.

FileImage:Gračanica_Gračanica -_Flickr_ Flickr -_quinn quinn.anya.jpg|Monastery building.

FileImage:Interieri_i_Manastirit_të_GraçanicësInterieri i Manastirit të Graçanicës.jpg|Interior

FileImage:Helen_of_Anjou_and_her_son_King_MilutinHelen of Anjou and her son King Milutin,_Gračanica Gračanica.jpg|Queen Hélène d'Anjou as a nun and King Milutin as a monk, fresco from Gračanica.

FileImage:Simonida.jpg|Queen [[Simonida]] of Serbia, wife of King [[Stefan Milutin|Milutin]], fresco from Gračanica.

FileImage:Gracanica_02Gracanica 02.jpg|[[Last Judgment]], narthex c. 1321

FileImage:Праведни_Авраам_и_прaведни_Праведни Авраам и прaведни (покајани)_разбојник_у_рају разбојник у рају,_живопис_у_светој_обитељи_Грачаница живопис у светој обитељи Грачаница,_Србија Србија.jpg|[[Abraham]] in paradise

The design of the [[Church of Saint Sava]] in [[Belgrade]] is based on the models of Gračanica and [[Hagia Sophia]]. In Chicago, the [[New Gračanica Monastery|New Gračanica]] church is a detailed replica of Gračanica, completed and consecrated in 1984.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Monastery |url=https://newgracanica.org/monastery/ |access-date=27 March 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=New Gracanica-Midwestern America |url=https://serborth.org/newgracanica.html |access-date=27 March 2021 |website=serborth.org}}</ref> The Hercegovačka Gračanica Monastery ([[Serbian language|Serbian]]: Манастир Херцеговачка Грачаница, <small>[[Romanization of Serbian|romanized]]:</small> ''Manastir Hercegovačka Gračanica''), completed in the year 2000, is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in [[Trebinje]], in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], and is largely a copy of the Gračanica monastery in Kosovo.<ref>{{Cite web |last=TheSrpskaTimes |date=8 January 2020 |title=The Monastery ''Hercegovačka Gračanica'': A pearl of spirituality and culture (VIDEO) {{!}} The Srpska Times |url=https://thesrpskatimes.com/15414-2/ |access-date=27 March 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hercegovačka Gračanica {{!}} Sightseeing {{!}} Trebinje |url=https://www.inyourpocket.com/trebinje/hercegovacka-gracanica_166623v |access-date=27 March 2021 |website=www.inyourpocket.com |language=en}}</ref>

* {{Cite book |last=Ćirković |first=Sima |author-link=Sima Ćirković|year=2004|title=The Serbs|location=Malden|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|isbn=9781405142915|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Wc-DWRzoeIC |title=The Serbs |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=9781405142915 |location=Malden}}

* {{Cite journal |last=Ивановић |first=Радомир |year=1961 |title=Земљишни поседи грачаничког властелинства (Land Property of the Monastery Gračanica in Middle Ages) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xul6CgAAQBAJ |journal=Историјски часопис |issue=11: 1960 |year=1961|pages=253–264}}

*{{cite book |last=Bošković |first=Đ. |title=Gračanica |location=Beograd|publisher=Društvo prijatelja starina |location=Beograd}}

* {{Cite book |last=Ćurčić |first=Slobodan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T77qAAAAMAAJ |title=Gračanica: King Milutin's Church and Its Place in Late Byzantine Architecture |year=1979|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |yearisbn=1979 9780271002187|isbnurl=9780271002187https://books.google.com/books?id=T77qAAAAMAAJ}}

*{{cite journal |last=Ćurčić |first=Slobodan |year=2007 |title=Gračanica and the cult of the Saintly Prince Lazar |journal=Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta |volume=44|issue=44|location=Belgrade |publisher=SANU |volume=44 |issue=44 |pages=465–472 |doi=10.2298/ZRVI0744465C |doi-access=free}}

*{{cite journal |last=Đorđević |first=A. |year=2009 |title=Gračanica kao inspiracija srpskih pesnika novijeg doba - poezija i kultura |journal=Baština|issue=27|pages=87–100|url=http://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0353-9008/2009/0353-90080927087D.pdf |journal=Baština |issue=27 |pages=87–100}}

*{{cite journal |last=Đorđević |first=A. |year=2009 |title=Gračanica u starim zapisima i natpisima i narodnoj poeziji |journal=Baština|issue=26|pages=115–125|url=http://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0353-9008/2009/0353-90080926115D.pdf |journal=Baština |issue=26 |pages=115–125}}

*{{cite book |last=Gluščević |first=Z. |year=1989|title=Gračaničko povesmo od zlata, Strašni sud |publisher=Jedinstvo |year=1989 |editor=Popović Ratko |location=Priština|publisher=Jedinstvo}}

*{{cite book |last=Milošević |first=D. |year=1968|title=Gračanica |location=Beograd|publisher=Turistička štampa |year=1968 |location=Beograd}}

*{{cite book |last=Popović |first=J. |year=1927|title=Gračanica |location=Beograd|publisher=Mlada Srbija |year=1927 |location=Beograd}}

*{{cite book |last=Todić |first=B. |year=1999a|title=Gračanica |issue=2|location=Priština|publisher=Muzej u Prištini |year=1999a |location=Priština |issue=2}}

*{{cite book |last=Todić |first=B. |year=1999b|title=Gračanica - slikarstvo |location=Priština|publisher=Muzej u Prištini |year=1999b |location=Priština}}

* {{Cite book |last=Todić |first=Branislav |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NqALAQAAMAAJ |title=Serbian Medieval Painting: The Age of King Milutin |year=1999|location=Belgrade|publisher=Draganić |year=1999 |isbn=9788644102717 |locationurl=Belgradehttps://books.google.com/books?id=NqALAQAAMAAJ}}

* {{Cite book |last1=Ferrari |first1=Silvio |urllast2=https://books.google.com/books?idBenzo|first2=lhUGDAAAQBAJ Andrea|title=Between Cultural Diversity and Common Heritage: Legal and Religious Perspectives on the Sacred Places of the Mediterranean |last2url=Benzo |first2https://books.google.com/books?id=Andrea |publisher=Routledge lhUGDAAAQBAJ|year=2014 |isbnpublisher=9781317175032 Routledge|location=London & New York|isbn=9781317175032}}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category|Gračanica Monastery}}