Kovilj Monastery

13th century Serb Orthodox monastery

The Kovilj Monastery is a 13th century Serb Orthodox monastery in the Bačka region, in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina. According to the legend, the monastery was founded by the first Serb archbishop, Saint Sava, in the 13th century. The monastery, often cited as one of the most beautiful, has been nicknamed the "Jewel of Bačka". Considered "one of the most monumental cultural historical objects in Bačka", it is protected by the state since 4 August 1949 as a cultural monument.

The monastery is located near Kovilj, a suburban village of Novi Sad. It is situated just south of the village at the point where the Special Natural Reserve "Koviljsko Petrovaradinski Rit" begins, a wetland in the valley of the Danube, stretched along its left bank. The Monastery Kovilj is in the western section of Šajkaška, a historical region of south Bačka.

In 1217, Serbian ruler, Grand Župan Stefan the First Crowned was crowned the King of Serbia by the papal legate. King Andrew II of Hungary, angered by the fact that the ruler of Serbia is now equal to him and considering Serbia its vassal, decided to attack Stefan. In 1220, Andrew II encamped at the location of modern Kovilj, which at the time was the territory of Hungary. Saint Sava, brother of Stefan, arrived and began diplomatic talks to prevent the war and managed to reconcile two kings. According to tradition, to commemorate the event, Saint Sava founded the monastery in 1220, and dedicated it to the Saint Archangels Gabriel and Michael. Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi, who visited the region in the 17th century, wrote that the monastery was founded by the "Serbian king, the owner of Belgrade", which would be King Stefan Dragutin, who was the only mediaeval Serbian king who ruled Belgrade, 1284 1316. Some theories claim that the monastery was built on the ruins of the Franciscan monastery from 1421. None of these theories can be confirmed in historical documents. The present, stone church was built from 1741 to 1749 by the neimars (builders) Teodor Kosta and Nikola Krapić. It was built in the Morava architectural school style of Serbo Byzantine architecture and patterned after Manasija (to which it especially resembles) and Ravanica. In 1758, Empress Maria Theresa issued a document which set the monastery's estate. By the imperial privilege, the land was strictly divided between the monastery and the nearby settlement of Koviljski Šanac. The establishment of the Šajkaš Battalion in 1763, Serbian settlements surrounding the monastery were repopulated and preserved, which also influenced the prosperity of the monastery. Forerunner of the modern Serbian historiography, Jovan Rajić, became a priest in Kovilj and was appointed the archimandrite of the monastery in 1772, where he died in 1801. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the rebels used the monastery as their base in 1849 which forced the monks to move across the Danube, into the Syrmia region. When they returned after the collapse of the rebellion, the monastery was looted and burned, and many historical treasures were lost. All objects within the monastery were burned. The new church was damaged inside while the old one was almost completely ruined, so it was demolished in 1850. Since 1850, the monks began to collect funds for the restoration. Some of it was secured by the Austrian state, some by the donations of the population, and some was help from Russia. Young painter Aksentije Marodić painted the new iconostas in the 1880s, including the scenes from the life of Christ and replicas of the most famous paintings from that period which Marodić copied from the galleries in Vienna, Munich, Paris, Rome, Venice, and Naples. The walls themselves are not painted. Woodworks and carvings are the work of Jovan Kisner, while the gold plating and marble work were done by Ludvig Tauš. The work on the interior turned out to be quite lengthy, as it lasted until 1891/92. In 1946 the monastery kept only , but then even this was reduced by half. The number of monks dwindled and so did the number of believers and visitors, as the state became officially atheistic.

Church's iconostasis is one of the few in modern Vojvodina, not being made in the baroque manner. Some additional work on the paintings and the icons was later done by Uroš Predić. There is also a small dairy. Other activities include production of candles and crafting of icons, which, together with numerous herbal balms, can be bought in the monastic shop.

From the first citations of the monastery, there was a monastic school in it. In 2004, heguman Porfirije decided to change the purpose of the object and adapted it into the drug rehabilitation center for young drug addicts, within his project Zemlja živih ("Land of the living"). The project expanded beyond the monastery so in 2006 a community was formed on the salaš in Čenej, and then houses were opened in the villages of Vilovo and Brajkovac. A female community was formed in the monastery in Bačko Petrovo Selo. Within the scope of the program, which lasts from 12 to 36 months, there were 120 wards in 2017. They are supervised by the priests and former addicts and do numerous works, like cooking and cultivating the land, while those with artistic leanings make icons and woodcuts.