Of course, I included many other equally significant historic buildings in other posts, although perhaps many of them would also deserve special attention. Most Ottoman imperial mosques that I visited last year in Turkey should be really written about separately, they are so impressive.
Certainly, the church in Zrenjanin that I’m writing about is much smaller than those monumental mosques in Turkey or temples in Thailand, but I think that it has an immense historic importance for the Serbs.
ABOUT THE CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD
Built in 1746, it is one of few pure Baroque churches that I’ve seen during my current travel across Serbia. It survives almost untouched. Many other churches, although originally built more or less at the same time, suffered destruction and then they were completely rebuilt at a much later date.
This church survived the great fire of 1807. Certainly, some repairs were made on the church, although essentially it remains truly authentic.
So, if you study history of architecture and art, this church is where you should go to see Baroque in the realm of the Serbian architectural and artistic development.
It’s the only Serbian Orthodox church in the historical area of Zrenjanin. I am sure that there are other Serbian Orthodox churches in the city, but this is the only one that I visited.
There is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the main square and another Catholic church nearby. I’ve also seen the Reformed church, the Russian church and the Slovak Evangelical church.
Its uniqueness makes it even more precious. It’s the only place in the city centre where the faithful of the Serbian Orthodox religion can go to pray.
ICONOSTASIS
It’s not known who made the magnificent iconostasis in this church.
Dimitrije Popović started to paint the icons of the iconostasis, but Georgije Popović continued to paint them in 1815.
I took photos of some of the icons. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to see properly and photograph each and every icon, after all it’s a church, it’s not a museum.
But, a few examples that you can see in this post will give you a very good idea of Georgije Popović’s masterful execution.
On both sides near the iconostasis, you will see the inevitable thrones.
I assume that the same artist painted the throne frescoes, although I couldn’t find any confirmation that this is indeed the case.
CEILING FRESCOES
Aleksandar Sekulić, an Academic painter from Veliki Bečkerek painted the ceiling frescos between 1928 and 1930.
It took nearly 200 years to complete decoration of this church.
Finally, you can see the rear part of the church and the main entrance in the photo below.
I don’t have any doubts that, if you visit Zrenjanin, you will also visit this church. As I mentioned, it’s the only Serbian Orthodox temple in the historical part of the city.
It’s a beautiful Baroque structure that embellishes the area in which it proudly stands, while at the same time it fulfils its main religious function.
Back to Serbia