Thứ Tư, 19 tháng 6, 2013

Valerie Singleton on the marvellous mosaics in Serbia"s hidden church



PUBLISHED:


04:25 EST, 2 June 2013




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UPDATED:


11:28 EST, 19 June 2013




I gasped in amazement as I entered St George’s Church. Hidden away among the woods on Oplenac Hill near the town of Topola, an hour and a half south of Belgrade, it was breathtaking.


Every bit of the huge building – a mausoleum for the Karadjordjevic royal family who had intermittently ruled Serbia from 1804 – was covered in such fantastic and brilliantly colourful mosaics, it was difficult to know where to look first.


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Breathtaking: Frescoes in the church of St George in Oplenac (left) and, right, the church from the outside


I had been in Belgrade for several days, enjoying the wide pedestrianised Knez Mihailova with its grand 19th Century buildings, shops and galleries. Once the main street in Roman times, it leads to the Kalemegdan Park and the vast fortress overlooking the junction of the Sava and Danube rivers. The fort has provided a splendidly defensive position for the different occupying forces over the centuries, and a great view.


I’d sampled some rakija, the famous fruit brandy, and had my morning fix in a kafana, a traditional old coffee house. And I’d been learning about Serbia’s tortuous history – hence my visit to Topola.


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Valerie was wowed by Serbia’s tumultuous history


King Petar I came to the throne in 1903, almost exactly 100 years after his grandfather, Karageorge Petrovic, or Black George, began an uprising for Serbian independence against the Turks. The uprising led to a century of power struggles but eventually Petar became king.


Since Topola was where his grandfather had lived and ruled the brief Serbian state, Petar decided to build a church there. He died in 1921, and his son Alexander finished it.


Originally, Petar intended to leave the interior white and engrave the walls with the names of the soldiers killed in the Balkan wars. But so many more Serbs died in the First World War that it was decided instead to copy the most outstanding frescos from medieval monasteries across the country and have them made into mosaics. Artists made copies of 60 of them and some 40million pieces were used to make the mosaics, using thousands of shades of colour. Everything yellow is real gold.


There are hundreds of compositions made from marble, Murano glass and melted-down metal from First World War artillery. And the magnificent chandelier in the centre has an upside-down crown inside, to symbolise Serbia’s defeat at the battle of Kosovo in 1389.


Last week the body of Peter II, last king of Yugoslavia, who died in exile in America in 1970, was buried in the crypt here, after being repatriated.


Near the church is the simple White House, where Petar lived while he supervised the building.


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Shades of the past: The church’s walls bear a wealth of elaborate recreations of medieval frescoes – as well as the image of Karageorge Petrovic, or Black George (left), who began the uprising for Serbian independence


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Moments of history: The exterior of the church bears an image of St George slaying the dragon (left), while the building also plays host to a crucial piece of the past – the telegram that was crucial in starting World War One


In a glass case is a telegram imparting demands from the Austro-Hungarians to the Serbs after the assassination of Emperor Franz Josef in Sarajevo. It was incredible to be looking at something so ordinary, but which led to the First World War.


Travel Facts


Designer Travel offers return flights with JAT Airways direct to Belgrade from Heathrow from £177. It also arranges tailor-made tours.


A two-night city break costs from £350pp. Call 020 8395 1323 or email amandaslade@designertravel.co.uk. 





The comments below have not been moderated.



As the German ambassador to Vienna reported to his government on July 14, the ultimatum to Serbia is being composed so that the possibility of its being accepted is practically excluded.This note, as Winston Churchill famously wrote, was clearly an ultimatum, but it was an ultimatum such as had never been penned in modern times. As the reading proceeded it seemed absolutely impossible that any State in the world could accept it, or that any acceptance, however abject, would satisfy the aggressor.

When Austria-Hungary occupied Serbia in the winter of 1915, this magnificent church was looted ¿ the copper cover was removed from the dome, roof and portals. The lighting conductor was also removed as well as the bells. Many windows were broken including little marble pillars and ornaments. Using the excuse that important records might be hidden the occupiers desecrated the graves in the crypt.



fedor

,


Belgrade, Serbia,

06/6/2013 00:15


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Actually, it wasn’t Emperor Franz Josef assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914, but his son, Heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand.



Borislav

,


Belgrade, Serbia,

04/6/2013 13:29


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