Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church

Serbian Orthodox Church Museum was founded in 1926 upon decision of the Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church held in Sremski Karlovci forty years earlier. The aim of founding the Museum next to the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade was to reflect the entire development of the Serbian Orthodox Church at various historical periods and in various places without stressing any particular diocese, personality or epoch. The exhibited items of the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church originate from numerous sources, often by donations of persons interested in improvement of the museum or purchases. Majority of exhibited finds and items of the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church are of extraordinary value in terms of religious, cultural and artistic heritage and presents the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church from the time of Stefan Nemanja and Saint Sava to the present time. The exhibits of the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade contains the most precious collections of hand written and printed church books, old Serbian engravings, costumes, sacral items manufactured from metal, wood, bones, mother of pearls and leather, votive gifts, church embroidery, seals, historical documents and portraits of church dignitaries. The majority of the exhibits are items and objects kept in the Fruska Gora Monasteries as well as from churches in eastern Srem which were brought back from Zagreb where they were taken during the occupation in the course of the Second World War. The Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church Belgrade would have a far richer collection, had all objects plundered during the past been brought back, and particularly had not so many of them been lost for food during the wars.

The rich collection of the Serbian Orthodox Church Museum comprises church paintings, portraits of church dignitaries, ancient Serbian engravings, old Serbian manuscripts and printed books, all types of vestments, sacred objects of metal, wood, bone, mother-of-pearl and leather, votive offerings, altar embroideries, the seals of historical documents…. The outstanding Serbian Orthodox Church Museum exhibits of international significance are : the unique collection of textiles : the epitaphion /shroud/ from the late 13th century supposed to have belonged to King Milutin embroidered on dark red silk filled with ornaments, edged in velvet and interspersed with gold; The vestment of Prince Lazar with Heraldic signs, lions embroidered into the material with a helmet and oxen horns on the metal button; The shroud for the relics of Prince Lazar made by nun Efimija widow of Despot Jovan Ugljesa in 1402, the master-piece with silver and gold thread on red satin; extraordinary skillfully and artistically manufactured silver plated Ciprovac reliquary that is art work of Nikola Nedeljkovic from Ciprovac and includes depictions of saints; Metal ritual vessels and other sacred metal objects used during liturgical services representing artistic crafts, particularly the goldsmith’s art in Serbia; Byzantine crosses and seals; candlesticks, distinctive manuscripts and ornately decorated gospels, incense-boxes, numerous icons /specially Russian icons/ and many more….