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St Achillius Church, Arilje
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The church of Arilje is dedicated to Bishop Achillius of Larissa, Greece, a staunch opponent of the Arian heresy and a participant of the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. The Church of Saint Achillius in Arilje had close connections to the Nemanjić Dynasty, the first Serbian Archbishop Saint Sava, and King Dragutin.
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Arilje church and remains of the monastery buildings
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The architecture of the church makes it a part of the Raška stylistic group, which was characteristic of the 13th century and represented a coherent blend of a Romanesque exterior and a Byzantine spatial concept. The facade is in the Byzantine style of cell patterning, which combines layers of stone and brick, while the walls are in the Romanesque style, which makes the Church of Saint Achillius in Arilje unique in the l3th-century architecture of the entire Byzantine world.
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Saint Achillius
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The church in Arilje contains the tomb of Urošic, the younger son of King Dragutin, which shows the importance of this church to the King and indicated that one of the royal courts might have been located near Arilje.
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Altar table, the masoned seats and sokl zone of altar apse
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During the reign of Emperor Dušan, the Eparchy of Moravica was raised to the rank of a Metropolitanate, following the proclamation of the Serbian Patriarchate in 1346.
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Serbian King Milutin, King Dragutin and Queen Katelina
Founders composition, detail
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In addition to architectural value and historical importance, the church is also notable as a gallery of valuable frescoes. The portraits of the rulers from the Nemanjić Dynasty, their relatives, and all archbishops from the time when the Serbian church gained its independence represent the most exciting part of the fresco group. A new iconographic solution was used here for the first time in the history of Serbian fresco painting. In earlier frescoes, it was typical to present founder compositions with the Mother of God or a patron saint leading the founder towards Christ on his throne, while the founder was shown with his head bowed and holding a model of the church in his hands. Here, the Son of God was painted on a small scale, on a medallion between the heads of front-facing portraits of the Kings.
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Dormition of the Virgin
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Joachim, Anna, Holy Virgin and the High Priest
Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, detail
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Christ, Judas and the group of Jews
Betrayal of Judas, detail
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The Blue Angel fresco is one of the greatest masterpieces of old Serbian art. The fresco of the Holy Angel Gabriel, the Blue Angel, with a fair and dignified face and clad in a simple, luminous tunic, embodies the idea of the Lord's messenger and his ethereal beauty and high nobility, and it possesses remarkable artistic value. Portraits of Dragutin's sons Vladislav and Urošic also have a historical significance, as do the portraits of Serbian archbishops, members of the Nemanjić Dynasty, and bishops and metropolitan bishops of Moravica. Names of the authors of the Arilje frescoes are unknown, but it was recorded that they had come from Thessaloniki. From the perspective of style and iconography, these images announce a point of change in the development of Serbian fresco painting. They show the earliest beginnings of a new technique, which would become typical of the painters at the court of King Milutin and the visual arts in Serbia in the early 14th century.
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Archangel Gabriel - Blue Angel
The Annunciation, detail
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The Church of Saint Achilles, as a cultural monument of exceptional importance, is under protection based on the Decision rendered in 1947 by the Institute for Protection and Scientific Research of Cultural Monuments of the Republic of Serbia.
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BLAGO ‘Arilje 2018’ team members (left to right): Milica, Ivana, Mihailo, Meda, Nenad, Fr Dragan, Bogdan, Gordana, Vladimir, Gordana, Zoran, and Vladimir (on the ground)
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PRESERVE THE HERITAGE
YOU CAN HELP
BLAGO Fund continues in its quest for preservation and promotion of the Serbian heritage. BLAGO does not have administrative overhead, and all donations directly support the undertaken projects.
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ORTHOPRAX
Experience the Living Church
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OrthoPrax® is the most comprehensive Christian Orthodox Calendar and lectionary available for iOS and Android, allowing you to experience the Liturgical cycle of the Ancient Faith according to the calendar. Carry all the prayers, fasting schedules, daily Scripture readings, biographies of the daily saints and more to read wherever you are, following the Old Calendar or the Old Calendar! Developed in the Serbian tradition, it will soon support Greek, Antiochian, Russian and OCA saints, feast days, with specifics and added themes for the various jurisdictions. Let’s start our journey!
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THE SERBIAN CHRISTIAN HERITAGE OF AMERICA
The Historical, Spiritual and Cultural presence
of the Serbian Diaspora in North America (1815-2019)
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The Serbian Christian heritage of America book consists of 1004 pages, in a hardbound, with over 700 photos of the most important historical figures, churches, parishes (including yours), monasteries, frescoes, icons and other art objects. It contains professional texts of prominent historians, theologians, artists, and others who are leading experts in the areas from which they write. This book belongs to every Christian home to serve as a reminder and symbol to us and others, and especially to future generations.
Edited by: Bishop Maxim (Vasiljevic)
Published by: Sebastian Press
Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-9719505-0-4
Published: 2019
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Copyright 2019 - BLAGO Fund Inc. USA/Serbia
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