About object
In the warmer months, the Ruzica Church, which means 'rose' in Serbo-Croatian, is not so easy to find - despite the fact that it is located in the very center of Belgrade, in the Kalemegdan Fortress. The fact is that from below and to the very roof, it is entwined with ivy. Annually, on the Great Feast of the Meeting of the Lord, a memorial service is served in this church, which is commemorated in prayer by more than four thousand Serbian soldiers.
Ruzica Church is young and old at the same time. At the end of the XIV century, during the reign of Stafan Lazarevich, the ruler of Serbia, nicknamed Vysoky, on the place where it stands today, the temple of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos was built. It contained the relics of the holy queen Theophania, Saint Paraskeva Friday, as well as the revered icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, written, according to legend, by the apostle and evangelist Luke. However, there is evidence that the church at this place was even earlier - back in the 13th century, under King Dragutin, and even then it played the role of a cathedral.
One way or another, in 1521, after the capture of Belgrade by the Turks, the temple was converted into a mosque. At different times, the church was in the possession of the Turks, Hungarians, Austrians. In the 18th century, the building was used as a powder store. And in 1867, after the prince Obrenovic accepted the keys to the Belgrade Fortress, and the building was refurbished and consecrated again - this time as a garrison church. It was then that she received the name Ruzica.
The First World War inflicted severe wounds on the church. It was virtually destroyed - and rebuilt after the war. In memory of the Great War, as the First World War is otherwise called, craftsmen from Kragujevac made three unique chandeliers for Ruzica: they consist of sabers, bayonets, shells, artillery shells, parts of guns and parts of small arms. The throne of the church restored with private donations in 1925 was consecrated in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. In front of the entrance to the church, two sculptures were installed - the Serbian king Stefan Dušan in armor from the times of the Battle of Kosovo and an infantryman from the Balkan wars that preceded the First World War.
The iconostasis of the church in the Moravian style by the carver Kosta Todorovic is decorated with the finest carvings with gilding. Hieromonk Rafailo Momchilovich painted the icons for him. The back of the nave of the church is decorated with a painting on the theme of the Sermon on the Mount of the Lord Jesus Christ; Serbian King Alexander I, Russian Emperor Nicholas II, Queen Maria Karadjordjevic and military priest Petar Trbojevic are depicted among those listening to the Savior's words. Created this majestic a work of fine art, artist Andrei Bitsenko, a representative of Russian academic painting.
Since 1965, Ruzica received the status of an object of cultural and historical heritage and since then has been under state protection. At the same time, it is a functioning temple, to which divine services are regularly performed. For millions of Serbs, this church in the Belgrade fortress of Kalemegdan is a monument to the fighters for the independence of Serbia, who gave their lives in numerous wars from the time of the Battle of Kosovo to the present day.
You can write a letter to God or light a candle in the temple .
