Moraca Monastery is a beautiful Monastery from the 12th century in the Kolasin area.

Morača Monastery is a men’s monastery, one of the most important Serbian medieval monuments in the territory of Montenegro. It was built in 1252. The founder of the monastery was Prince Stefan Nemanjić, son of the titular king Vukan Nemanjić and grandson of the great prefect Stefan Nemanja. The monastery was created on the territory of the Zeta diocese of Svetosava, and today it belongs to the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, part of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The monastery is located in the Municipality of Kolašin, on the right bank of the Morača River, in the extended part of the canyon, on a natural plain. Below the monastery is the Svetigora waterfall, whose waters flow into the Morača river.

The head of the monastery is Archimandrite Raphael (Kalik) with the brotherhood at the head since January 1, 1982.

The founding inscription on the lintel of the western portal testifies that the Morač temple was built in 1252 by Prince Stefan, who was the younger son of the titular king Vukan Nemanjić and grandson of the great prefect Stefan Nemanja.

At the time of its foundation, the monastery belonged to the Zeta Bishopric of Svetosava, which was founded in 1219 as part of the Žiča Archdiocese, and then in 1346, during the proclamation of the Patriarchate of Peć, it was elevated to the rank of honorary (title) metropolitanate. From the very foundation, the monastery was part of the Nemanjić state, i.e. the medieval Kingdom of Serbia and the later Serbian Empire, and at the same time it was an important stop on the trade route that led from Onogošte to Brskov.

After the creation of shared feudal areas, the monastery, together with the wider area around the upper course of the Morača River, found itself on the border between the states of Balšić, Branković, Lazarević and Kosač. The area fell under Turkish rule in the middle of the 15th century, so the Morača monastery never belonged to the Crnojevic state. During the period of Turkish rule, the monastery was part of the Herzegovinian sandjak together with Morač nahijas

According to recorded tradition, the monastery was burned down in 1505, and then remained deserted for a long time. Not long after the restoration of the Patriarchate of Peć (1557), the restoration of the Morača monastery began, which was completed around 1574, thanks to the abbot Toma and the people’s champion Vukić Vučetić, and on that occasion the death of the Serbian patriarch Makarij was recorded on the inscription about the restoration. The decoration of the monastery temple continued until the end of the 16th century and during the 17th century. At that time, the monastery had a significant role in preserving the Orthodox faith in the wider area of the hill tribes.

In the middle of the 17th century, some Roman Catholic missionaries tried to abuse the reputation of the Morača monastery by creating various falsified documents about alleged meetings in this monastery during 1648 and 1653. Although some older researchers gave credence to those disputed writings, later scientific analyzes showed that they are forgeries, which have nothing to do with the Morača monastery and historical reality.

During the 18th century, the monastery was one of the most important church seats in the wider area of Brda. After the creation of the joint Montenegrin-Mountain State (1796) and its gradual expansion towards the interior, the monastery freed itself from all Turkish rule around 1820, which was also confirmed by the subsequent demarcation between the Principality of Montenegro and the Ottoman Empire.

The last Turkish attack on the monastery took place on June 11, 1877, and at the head of the mountain battalion that defended the monastery was the then Morač abbot Mitrofan Ban, who later became the metropolitan of Cetinje (1885-1920). During his ten-year abbotship (1869-1879), the Morača monastery made significant progress in material and spiritual terms.

Beginning in 1878, the monastery was part of the newly created Eparchy of Zahum-Raška, to which it belonged until 1931, when this eparchy was abolished and attached to the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral

The present appearance of the monastery dates back to 1935, when a substantial restoration was carried out, during the time of Metropolitan Dožić and Abbot Miron Medenica. The first car reached the monastery on September 2, 1936, when a merchant from Kolasin traveled 20 km of “roadless terrain” in two hours. At that time, the Ljubljana company “Tavčar” was building the road Kolašin – Manastir Morača – Rovci – Podgorica with great difficulties.

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Moraca Monastery is a beautiful Monastery from the 12th century in the Kolasin area.

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