St. Nicolas monastery - Kursumlija

   Monastery of Saint Nicola in Kuršumlija is the first endowment of famous Stefan Nemanja, the founder of mighty Nemanjic Dynasty and of the Medieval Serbia. The Saint Nicolas Monastery is built in 1168 up the Toplica river in the northern part of town of Kursumlija.

  Saint Nicolas Monastery is one-nave structure, remarkable for its brick walls executed in Byzantine style with a low eight-sided dome. The main church was built for the demands of Orthodox rituals in a way which was common to Byzantine architecture. The single nave church with its cupola, in the rhythmic plan of its parts, with vestibules on the sides which were a novelty in Raska, and in its internal structure - the cupola, the arches, the highly developed substructure - has everything which is characteristic of Byzantine architecture, including inner walls of mixed materials (crystalline calcium carbonate and bricks).

 

Externally it is done in the Romanesque style. In 1219 it became the seat of the Serbian Bishopric when the nartex with two towers were added /under influence of St. Tryphon Catherdal in Kotor finished in 1167 and like pillars-towers added on St. George's Church in Ras only few years later/. In the 14th century the small chapel was built on the southern side probably to be the final place of rest for the endower. Unfortunately the fresco decoration was lost over the course of the centuries. The Church of the Mother of God established in 1159 as the nunnery by Ana Dondolo, the wife of Stefan Nemanja is nowadays only a picturesque ruin bearing witness of good passed times.