1.
Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci
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Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci is the central or patriarchal eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church, with seat in Belgrade, Serbia. The head of the eparchy is the Serbian Patriarch, formal unification of two eparchies was completed in 1931 when Archbishopric of Belgrade was joined with the Eparchy of Syrmia into the Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci. In that time, the city of Pančevo was transferred from Eparchy of Vršac to the Archeparchy of Belgrade, in 1947, Eparchy of Syrmia and Eparchy of Šumadija were excluded from the Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci and were transformed into separate organizational units. The city of Pančevo was returned to the Eparchy of Banat, Eparchy of Belgrade is one of the oldest ecclesiastical institutions in this part of Europe. Ancient Bishopric of Singidunum was an important ecclesiastical center of the late Roman Empire during 4th and 5th century and its bishops Ursacius and Secundianus were actively involved in religious controversies over Arianism. That ancient bishopric finally collapsed after 584 when ancient Singidunum was finally destroyed by Avars, after the Christianization of Slavs, eparchy was renewed as late as 9th century. First medieval Bishop of Belgrade who is known by name was Sergije in 878, since 1018 it belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Archbishopric of Ohrid. At the end of 13th century, Belgrade became the city of Serbian king Stefan Dragutin. At the beginning of 15th century, during the rule of Serbian despot Stefan Lazarević, Belgrade fell under Turkish rule in 1521, but Serbian Patriarchate was renewed in 1557 with its seat in Peć. During 16th and 17th centuries, Serbian bishops of Belgrade were styled as Metropolitans of Belgrade, at the end of 17th century, regions of Belgrade and Srem were separated. In 1708, when autonomous Serbian Metropolitanate in Habsburg Monarchy was created, Eparchy of Srem became archdiocese of the Metropolitan, Eparchy of Srem remained part of Metropolitanate of Karlovci until 1920. On the other hand, after the abolition of Serbian Patriarchate in 1766, in 1831, Orthodox Church in Principality of Serbia gained its autonomy from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and Belgrade became the seat of the Archbishop who was now Metropolitan of Serbia. In that time, territory of the archeparchy was very large and included regions of present-day eparchies of Šumadija, in 1920, Metropolitanate of Serbia merged with other Serbian ecclesiastical provinces to form united Serbian Orthodox Church. In the same year, region of Braničevo was separated from the archeparchy, in 1947, region of Šumadija was also separated from the archeparchy and new Eparchy of Šumadija was created. Since then, the archbishopric was reduced to the limits of the City of Belgrade. There are 12 monasteries within the Archbishopric, during the long history of the ecclesiastical seat of Belgrade, many bishops, metropolitans, archbishops and finally patriarchs were seated on the throne of this eparchy. Serbian Orthodox Church List of the Eparchies of the Serbian Orthodox Church Religion in Serbia Orthodoxy in Serbia
2.
Belgrade
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Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and its name translates to White city. The urban area of the City of Belgrade has a population of 1.34 million, one of the most important prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved within the Belgrade area in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco-Dacians inhabited the region, and after 279 BC Celts conquered the city and it was conquered by the Romans during the reign of Augustus, and awarded city rights in the mid-2nd century. In 1521, Belgrade was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and became the seat of the Sanjak of Smederevo and it frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841, northern Belgrade remained the southernmost Habsburg post until 1918, when the city was reunited. As a strategic location, the city was battled over in 115 wars, Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia from its creation in 1918, to its final dissolution in 2006. Belgrade has an administrative status within Serbia and it is one of five statistical regions of Serbia. Its metropolitan territory is divided into 17 municipalities, each with its own local council, City of Belgrade covers 3. 6% of Serbias territory, and 22. 5% of the countrys population lives within its administrative limits. It is classified as a Beta- global city, chipped stone tools found at Zemun show that the area around Belgrade was inhabited by nomadic foragers in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras. Some of these belong to the Mousterian industry, which are associated with Neanderthals rather than modern humans. Aurignacian and Gravettian tools have also discovered there, indicating occupation between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago. The first farming people to settle in the region are associated with the Neolithic Starčevo culture, there are several Starčevo sites in and around Belgrade, including the eponymous site of Starčevo. The Starčevo culture was succeeded by the Vinča culture, a more sophisticated farming culture that grew out of the earlier Starčevo settlements which is named for a site in the Belgrade region. Evidence of early knowledge about Belgrades geographical location comes from ancient myths, the rock overlooking the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers has been identified as one of the place in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. The Paleo-Balkan tribes of Thracians and Dacians ruled this area prior to the Roman conquest, Belgrade was inhabited by a Thraco-Dacian tribe Singi, after the Celtic invasion in 279 BC, the Scordisci took the city, naming it Singidūn. In 34–33 BC the Roman army led by Silanus reached Belgrade, jovian reestablished Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, ending the brief revival of traditional Roman religions under his predecessor Julian the Apostate. In 395 AD, the passed to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire
3.
Pavle, Serbian Patriarch
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Pavle was the 44th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Serbs, from 1990 to his death. His full title was His Holiness the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, before his death, he was the oldest living leader of an Eastern Orthodox church. Because of poor health, he spent his last years in the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade, Pavle was born Gojko Stojčević in the village of Kućanci in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. He lost both his parents in childhood, and was raised by an aunt, after finishing elementary school, Pavle graduated from a gymnasium in Belgrade, then studied at the seminary in Sarajevo. After finished Seminary, Gojko entered University of Belgrade where he studied Theology and he quit medicine, but graduated with a Theology degree in 1942. During World War II he took refuge in the Holy Trinity monastery in Ovčar, after the war, he worked in Belgrade as a construction worker, but because of his poor health he took monastic vows in Blagoveštenje monastery in Ovčar in 1946. He served as a hierodeacon in Blagoveštenje, and later in Rača monastery between 1949 and 1955, in 1954, Pavle was ordained to the rank of hieromonk. The same year he was ordained as protosyncellus, and in 1957 as archimandrite, between 1955 and 1957 Pavle took post-graduate studies in the Theological School of the University of Athens, Greece. He received a doctorate in New Testament and liturgy by the Theological Academy in Athens, after returning from Greece, he was elected the Bishop of Ras and Prizren in 1957. He held that position for 33 years before he was elected Patriarch, as a bishop of Ras and Prizren Pavle built numerous new churches and helped the reconstruction of old ones. He spent a lot of time in traveling and meeting people of his eparchy. He also wrote books and gave lectures in Church music and Church Slavonic language, after spending 34 years in Kosovo, Pavle was elected the Serbian Patriarch in 1990, succeeding the ill Serbian Patriarch German II, and moved to Belgrade. He was ordained for the Patriarch in the St. Michaels Cathedral in Belgrade on 2 December 1990, and in Patriarchal Monastery of Peć, six days after his election, the parliamentary election was held in Serbia, in which Slobodan Miloševićs SPS came to power. At first, relations between the government and the church were good, but gradually eroded because of the Yugoslav Wars, Pavle had connections to the Karić family and had numerous meetings with Milošević and Mira Marković, but also with the leaders of the opposition. In 1993 Pavle wrote a letter to Milošević urging him to release Vuk Drašković from prison, during the Yugoslav Wars, the patriarch and the church gave support to the leaders of the Bosnian Serbs and Croatian Serbs. Patriarch Pavle had been criticized for his actions during the wars. The Orthodox church had been viewed as promoters of Serbian nationalism by many Bosnian Muslims, Pavle visited the cities of Knin, Pale while troops carried out a siege on Goražde. He openly referred to the Republic of Croatia as the new Independent State of Croatia, a famous photograph from this time is that of Karadžić kissing Pavles hand
4.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
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The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state in Southeast Europe and Central Europe, that existed during the interwar period and first half of World War II. It was formed in 1918 by the merger of the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats, the Kingdom of Montenegro had united with Serbia five days previously, while the regions of Kosovo, Vojvodina and Vardar Macedonia were parts of Serbia prior to the unification. For its first eleven years of existence, the Kingdom was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the official name of the state was changed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia by King Alexander I on 3 October 1929. The state was ruled by the Serbian dynasty of Karađorđević, which ruled the Kingdom of Serbia under Peter I from 1903 onwards. Peter I became the first king of Yugoslavia until his death in 1921 and he was succeeded by his son Alexander I, who had been regent for his father. He was known as Alexander the Unifier and he renamed the kingdom Yugoslavia in 1929 and he was assassinated in Marseille by Vlado Chernozemski, a member of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, during his visit to France in 1934. The crown passed to his then-still under-aged son Peter and his cousin Paul ruled as Prince regent until 1941, when Peter II would come of age. The royal family flew to London the same year, prior to the country being invaded by the Axis powers, in April 1941, the country was occupied and partitioned by the Axis powers. A royal government-in-exile, recognized by the United Kingdom and, later, in 1944, after pressure from the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the King recognized the government of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia as the legitimate government. This was established on 2 November following the signing of the Treaty of Vis by Ivan Šubašić, Trumbić faced initial hostility from Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić, who preferred an enlarged Serbia over a unified Yugoslav state. In 1916, the Serbian Parliament in exile decided on the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia at a meeting inside the Municipal Theatre of Corfu. The Kingdom was formed on 1 December 1918 under the name Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, on 1 December 1918, the new kingdom was proclaimed by Alexander Karađorđević, Prince-Regent for his father, Peter I of Serbia. The creation of the state was supported by pan-Slavists and Serbian nationalists, for the pan-Slavic movement, all of the South Slav people had united into a single state. For Serbian nationalists, the goal of uniting the majority of the Serb population across south-eastern Europe into one state was also achieved. Furthermore, as Serbia already had a government, military, and police force, the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes participated in the Paris Peace Conference with Trumbić as the countrys representative. Almost immediately, it ran into disputes with most of its neighbours, Slovenia was difficult to determine, since it had been an integral part of Austria for 400 years. The Vojvodina region was disputed with Hungary, Macedonia with Bulgaria, a plebiscite was also held in the Province of Carinthia, which opted to remain in Austria. Austrians had formed a majority in this region although numbers reflected that some Slovenes did vote for Carinthia to become part of Austria, the Dalmatian port city of Zadar and a few of the Dalmatian islands were given to Italy
5.
Metropolitan bishop
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Before the establishment of patriarchs, metropolitan was the highest episcopal rank in the Eastern rites of the Church. They presided over synods of bishops, and were granted privileges by canon law. The Early Church structure generally followed the Roman imperial practice, with one bishop ruling each city, the bishop of the provincial capital, the metropolitan, enjoyed certain rights over other bishops in the province, later called suffragans. The other bishops are known as suffragan bishops, the metropolitan is obliged to request the pallium, a symbol of the power that, in communion with the Church of Rome, he possesses over his ecclesiastical province. This holds even if he had the pallium in another metropolitan see and it is the responsibility of the metropolitan, with the consent of the majority of the suffragan bishops to call a provincial council, decide where to convene it, and determine the agenda. It is his prerogative to preside over the provincial council, no provincial council can be called if the metropolitan see is vacant. As of April 2006,508 archdioceses were headed by metropolitan archbishops,27 archbishops lead an extant archdiocese, but were not metropolitans, see also Catholic Church hierarchy for the distinctions. In those Eastern Catholic Churches that are headed by a patriarch, similarly, a metropolitan has the right to ordain and enthrone the bishops of his province. The metropolitan is to be commemorated in the liturgies celebrated within his province, a major archbishop is defined as the metropolitan of a certain see who heads an autonomous Eastern Church not of patriarchal rank. The canon law of such a Church differs only slightly from that regarding a patriarchal Church, there are also autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches consisting of a single province and headed by a metropolitan. In his autonomous Church it is for him to ordain and enthrone bishops, in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the title of metropolitan is used variously, in terms of rank and jurisdiction. In terms of rank, in some Eastern Orthodox Churches metropolitans are ranked above archbishops in precedence, primates of autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches below patriarchal rank are generally designated as archbishops. In the Greek Orthodox Churches, archbishops are ranked above metropolitans in precedence, some Eastern Orthodox Churches have functioning metropolitans on the middle level of church administration. In Romanian Orthodox Church there are six regional metropolitans who are the chairmen of their respective synods of bishops, for example, Metropolitan of Oltenia has regional jurisdiction over four dioceses. On the other hand, in some Eastern Orthodox Churches title of metropolitan is only honorary, in Serbian Orthodox Church, honorary title of metropolitan is given to diocesan bishops of some important historical sees. For example, diocesan bishop of the Eparchy of Montenegro and the Littoral is given the title of metropolitan. Diocesan bishop of the Eparchy of Dabar-Bosnia is also given the title of metropolitan. Non-canonical Eastern Orthodox Churches generally use metropolitan title according to traditions of usage in Churches from which they were split
6.
Bishop
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A bishop is an ordained, consecrated, or appointed member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within these churches, bishops are seen as those who possess the full priesthood, Some Protestant churches including the Lutheran and Methodist churches have bishops serving similar functions as well, though not always understood to be within apostolic succession in the same way. Priests, deacons and lay ministers cooperate and assist their bishop in shepherding a flock, the earliest organization of the Church in Jerusalem was, according to most scholars, similar to that of Jewish synagogues, but it had a council or college of ordained presbyters. In, we see a system of government in Jerusalem chaired by James the Just. In, the Apostle Paul ordains presbyters in churches in Anatolia, in Timothy and Titus in the New Testament a more clearly defined episcopate can be seen. We are told that Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete to oversee the local church, Paul commands Titus to ordain presbyters/bishops and to exercise general oversight, telling him to rebuke with all authority. Early sources are unclear but various groups of Christian communities may have had the bishop surrounded by a group or college functioning as leaders of the local churches, eventually, as Christendom grew, bishops no longer directly served individual congregations. Instead, the Metropolitan bishop appointed priests to each congregation. Around the end of the 1st century, the organization became clearer in historical documents. While Ignatius of Antioch offers the earliest clear description of monarchial bishops he is an advocate of monepiscopal structure rather than describing an accepted reality. To the bishops and house churches to which he writes, he offers strategies on how to pressure house churches who dont recognize the bishop into compliance. Other contemporary Christian writers do not describe monarchial bishops, either continuing to equate them with the presbyters or speaking of episkopoi in a city, plainly therefore we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself — Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians 6,1. Your godly bishop — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 2,1, therefore as the Lord did nothing without the Father, either by Himself or by the Apostles, so neither do ye anything without the bishop and the presbyters. — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 7,1. Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was to the Father, and as the Apostles were to Christ and to the Father, — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 13,2. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church, — Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallesians 3,1. Follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the presbytery as the Apostles, and to the deacons pay respect, as to Gods commandment — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 8,1. He that honoureth the bishop is honoured of God, he that doeth aught without the knowledge of the bishop rendereth service to the devil — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 9,1
7.
Prizren
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Prizren is a historic city located in Kosovo. It is the center of the eponymous municipality and district. The city has a population of around 178,000, making it the second largest city in Kosovo, the residents of Prizren are mostly ethnic Albanians. Prizren is located on the banks of a river, the Prizren Bistrica, the municipality has a border with Albania and the Republic of Macedonia. By road the city is 99 kilometres northwest of Skopje,85 kilometres south of Pristina and 175 kilometres northeast of Tirana, the Roman town of Theranda in Ptolemys Geography is mentioned in the 2nd century AD. In the 5th century, it is mentioned as being restored in Dardania with the name of Petrizên by Procopius of Caesarea in De aedificiis, sometimes it is mentioned even in relation to the Justiniana Prima. It is thought that its name comes from old Serbian Призрѣнь, from при-зрѣти, indicating fortress which could be seen from afar. Konstantin Jireček concluded, from the correspondence of bishop Demetrios Chomatenos of Ohrid, Bulgarian rulers controlled the Prizren area from the 850s, and Slav migrants arriving in the area were subsequently influenced by the Bulgarian-organized Archbishopric of Ohrid. Bulgarian rule was replaced by Byzantine rule in the eleventh century. The revolt was suppressed by 1073, the area was raided by Serbian ruler Vukan in the 1090s. In 1180–90, the Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja conquered the district of Prizren this may refer to the Prizren diocese rather than the city itself, Stefan Nemanja regained control of Prizren some time between 1208 and 1216. In 1220, the Byzantine Greek Orthodox bishop of the city was expelled as the Serbian rulers imposed their own ecclesiastical jurisdiction, Stefan Dušan used Prizren as capital of Serbian Empire. In the next centuries before the Ottoman conquest the city would pass to the Mrnjavčević and Balsić families, the Catholic church retained some influence in the area, 14th-century documents refer to a catholic church in Prizren, which was the seat of a bishopric between the 1330s and 1380s. Catholic parishes served Ragusan merchants and Saxon miners, after several years of attack and counterattack, the Ottomans made a major invasion of Kosovo in 1454, Đurađ Branković retreated to the north and asked for help from John Hunyadi. On 21 June 1455, Prizren surrendered to the Ottoman army, Prizren was the capital of the Sanjak of Prizren, and under new administrative organization of Ottoman Empire it became capital of the Vilayet. This included the city of Tetovo, later it became a part of the Ottoman province of Rumelia. It was a trade city, benefiting from its position on the north-south. Prizren became one of the cities of the Ottomans Kosovo Province
8.
University of Belgrade
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The University of Belgrade is the oldest and the largest university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, the University has nearly 90,000 students and over 4,200 members of teaching staff. Since its founding, the University has educated more than 330,000 bachelors, the University comprises 31 faculties,12 research institutes, the university library, and 9 university centres. The faculties are organized into 4 groups, social sciences and humanities, medical sciences, natural sciences and mathematics, on the prestigious Shanghai Ranking, the University of Belgrade ranks between 201st and 300th place, according to the most recent global ranking. In 2014 it ranked 151-200 specifically in the areas of mathematics and physics, the University of Belgrade was established in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School by Dositej Obradović, Serbian key figure in the Age of Enlightenment. It was the highest ranking institution in Serbia between 1808 and 1905, as the first Higher School, the Belgrade Lyceum, and the second Higher School. It was initially located at the Countess Ljubicas Residence building and then moved to another significant site in Belgrade, the Captain Miša’s Mansion, todays seat of the university. The second Higher School was established as the successor of the Lyceum and was a combination of a gymnasium and a college. Under the law, it was defined as an institute for higher. The Minister of Education had control over this institution and it was managed by the Rector, during its early history it had three departments, Philosophy, Engineering and Law. The Higher School formally became the University of Belgrade through the Law on the University from February 27,1905, in addition to the Philosophy, Law and Electrical Engineering departments, this law introduced the Orthodox Theology and Medical schools. This is how the legal education in Serbia emerged in the year 1808. Before enrolling the legal department, it was compulsory to graduate at the department where the studies lasted two years, so the legal studies lasted a total of five years. Since 1853, the legal education became independent from the studies of philosophy, from 1841 to 1863, before enrolling the legal department, it was compulsory to graduate at the department for philosophy, where the studies lasted two years. The lectures were held by professors who had earned their diplomas in Austria, Germany. During the 1850s, the Philosophy Department developed into a particular college, the University of Belgrades Faculty of Philosophy is todays continuation of this department. The first academic lecture on engineering in Serbia was held in 1894. Professor Stevan Marković was the first lecturer and founder of the Engineering Department at the Higher School, only four years later, Professor Marković also established the first Serbian electrical engineering laboratory
9.
Monk
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A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of other monks. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many religions, in the Greek language the term can apply to women, but in modern English it is mainly in use for men. The word nun is typically used for female monastics, although the term monachos is of Christian origin, in the English language monk tends to be used loosely also for both male and female ascetics from other religious or philosophical backgrounds. However, being generic, it is not interchangeable terms that denote particular kinds of monk, such as cenobite, hermit, anchorite, hesychast. In Eastern Orthodoxy monasticism holds a special and important place. Orthodox monastics separate themselves from the world in order to pray unceasingly for the world and they do not, in general, have as their primary purpose the running of social services, but instead are concerned with attaining theosis, or union with God. However, care for the poor and needy has always been an obligation of monasticism, the level of contact though will vary from community to community. Hermits, on the hand, have little or no contact with the outside world. Orthodox monasticism does not have religious orders as are found in the West, basil the Great and the Philokalia, which was compiled by St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth. Hesychasm is of importance in the ascetical theology of the Orthodox Church. Meals are usually taken in common in a dining hall known as a trapeza. Food is usually simple and is eaten in silence while one of the brethren reads aloud from the writings of the Holy Fathers. The monastic lifestyle takes a deal of serious commitment. Within the cenobitic community, all monks conform to a way of living based on the traditions of that particular monastery. In struggling to attain this conformity, the comes to realize his own shortcomings and is guided by his spiritual father in how to deal honestly with them. For this same reason, bishops are almost always chosen from the ranks of monks, Eastern monasticism is found in three distinct forms, anchoritic, cenobitic, and the middle way between the two, known as the skete. One normally enters a community first, and only after testing and spiritual growth would one go on to the skete or, for the most advanced. However, one is not necessarily expected to join a skete or become a solitary, in general, Orthodox monastics have little or no contact with the outside world, including their own families
Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Karađorđe, Karađorđević dynasty
Grand Collar of the Order of the Eagle of Georgia, Bagrationi dynasty
