UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Serbia
Five Serbian monasteries and three churches are enlisted at the UNESCO World Heritage Sites List.
Another five sites have been put forward and are waiting to be included.
Among several hundreds of monasteries and churches, five monasteries and three churches from the
Middle ages are enlisted in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites List (UNESCO – United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Protected monasteries are Djurdjevi
stupovi, Sopoćani, Studenica, Visoki Dečani and Gračanica, while among the churches the church
of The Patriarchate of Peć, Bogorodica Ljeviška and the Church of Holy Apostles Peter and
Paul near the town of Novi Pazar.
The complex of Stari Ras (eng. The Old Ras), which includes the monasteries Sopoćani and Đurđevi
stupovi, as well as the Church of Holy Apostles Peter and Paul near the town of Novi Pazar, the oldest
active church in Serbia, was included in UNESCO World Heritage Sites List in 1979.
Seven years later the Studenica monastery was added, followed by the Visoki Dečani monastery in 2004.
Two years later the monasteries Gračanica, the Patriarchate of Peć and the church Bogorodica Ljeviška,
all situated in Kosovo, were added to the list.
In 2007 the site Gamzigrad-Felix Romuliana-Palace of Galerius, near the town of Zaječar, were also
included into the UNESCO World Heritage Sites List .
Serbia has put forward for inclusion another five sites, Justiniana prima (Caričin grad, eng. Empress’s
town), theManasija monastery, Bač and Smederevo (cities-fortresses on the Danube), and Rajačke
pimnice (Rajac breweries) near the town of Negotin.
Restoration of the Smederevo fortress, one of the largest medieval fortresses in Europe, and Bač, the
oldest and best preserved medieval fortified complex in Vojvodina, are presently active.
As part of the UNESCO “Memory of the World” program, Nikola Tesla’s Archive (2003) and the
Miroslav Gospel(2005) have been added to the World Documentary Heritage register.
The list of protected properties of natural value, enlisting about 150 places of outstanding value, include 5
national parks, 10 parks of nature, 14 areas of outstanding features, 72 nature reserves.
Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius
The Late Roman fortified palace compound and memorial complex of Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of
Galerius, in the east of Serbia, was commissioned by Emperor Caius Valerius Galerius Maximianus, in
the late 3rd and early 4th centuries. It was known as Felix Romuliana, named after the emperor’s mother.
The site consists of fortifications, the palace in the north-western part of the complex, basilicas, temples,
hot baths, memorial complex, and a tetrapylon. The group of buildings is also unique in its intertwining of
ceremonial and memorial functions.
On the hill to the east of the fortified palace, Galerius built mausoleums for himself and for his mother
flanked by consecrational monuments in the shape of tumuli. The latter are connected with the
apotheosis - the symbolic elevation to the status of god.
After the death of Constantius Chlorus in 306, Galerius became the most powerful man in the Roman Empire. Viewed
from that lofty position, the fortress appeared to be too humble. Work then under way was abandoned to concentrate
on a more monumental fortress encompassing the buildings already erected. A huge temple dedicated to Jupiter was
erected in the south part of the compound. The new phase is characterised by even greater lavishness of decoration
full of symbolic meaning, executed in various materials
After the Emperor's death in 311 life in the palace went on, but without royal ceremonies. The palace and other
buildings were redecorated and put to other uses. This quiet decline continued until the end of the 5th century when
the throne hall was converted into a three-aisle Christian basilica. At the time, along the eastern facade of the palace,
another building was put up with an atrium in the centre and an apse with a small marble basin, probably a font.
Several towers of the defensive bulwark were turned into craft shops manufacturing items needed by the new
inhabitants.
Stari Ras and Sopoćani
The buildings of Stari Ras are an impressive group of medieval monuments consisting of fortresses, churches and
monasteries. The monastery at Sopoćani is a reminder of the contacts between Western civilization and the
Byzantine world.
Located at the confluence of the Raska and lbar, on the outskirts of Stari Ras, the ancient town of Ras became in
1159, with its accession to the Serb dynasty of Nemangic, the first Serb State capital. Situated on a hill at the border
between the small kingdom of Raska and the Byzantine Empire, this old Balkan city drew its strength from its location
at an important crossroads, influenced by its contacts with both Eastern and Western influences. Its many
monuments make up a single architectural complex that testifies to the time when the capital of the Serb State
became located at Stari Ras until the early years of the 14th century, when King Milutin transferred the capital to
Skopje. These buildings, mostly built between the 9th and 11th centuries, in their plan and in their decoration and
architectural interest, are characteristic of the Raska School.
The Monastery of Sopoćani, on the road to Andrijivica, was built in 1260 by King Uros I as the resting place for the
ashes of his parents and his own tomb in its vault. This building, surmounted by a cupola and extended to the west
between 1336 and 1345 by the Emperor Dusan, is noteworthy for its exceptional frescoes. Those in the narthex, out
of which two projecting vaults open, provide invaluable historical evidence about the family of the founder of the
monastery. The plastic quality of these compositions, mostly from the 13th century, testifies to the vitality of Byzantine
art at a time when Constantinople was in the hands of the Crusaders.
Studenica Monastery
The Studenica Monastery was established in the late 12th century by Stevan Nemanja, founder of the medieval Serb
state, shortly after his abdication. It is the largest and richest of Serbia’s Orthodox monasteries. Its two principal
monuments, the Church of the Virgin and the Church of the King, both built of white marble, enshrine priceless
collections of 13th- and 14th-century Byzantine painting.
Studenica was the necropolis of the Nemanjic dynasty and over the centuries it developed into one of the focal points
of Serbian history. The monastery grew larger within its walls, and refectories and the monks' living quarters were
installed along the curve of the circular wall. As foundations increased, more sanctuaries were created in the central
area. Some small constructions were clustered together to the south of the original church: St Nicholas (from c.
1240), St John and in the early 14th century, St Anne and St Joachim, the famous King's Church, completed in 1314.
At the same time votive chapels, oratories and hermitages were built in the mountains outside the walls.
The two principal monuments of Studenica, the Church of the Virgin Mary and the King's Church, are both in a very
satisfactory state of conservation. This is true of the brickwork and the wall construction in marble of the main church.
The upper courses of this marble, which was drawn from nearby quarries, has acquired a beautiful golden patina, but
the wonderful precision of the Romanesque sculptors responsible for the west and south gates and the great east
window has not been obliterated by time.
Medieval Monuments in Kosovo
The four edifices of the site reflect the high points of the Byzantine-Romanesque ecclesiastical culture, with its distinct
style of wall painting, which developed in the Balkans between the 13th and 17th centuries. The Dečani Monastery
was built in the mid-14th century for the Serbian king Stefan Dečanski and is also his mausoleum. The Patriarchate of
Peć Monastery is a group of four domed churches featuring series of wall paintings. The 13th-century frescoes of the
Church of Holy Apostles are painted in a unique, monumental style. Early 14th-century frescoes in the church of the
Holy Virgin of Ljevisa represent the appearance of the new so-called Palaiologian Renaissance style, combining the
influences of the eastern Orthodox Byzantine and the Western Romanesque traditions. The style played a decisive
role in subsequent Balkan art.