Djordjevic: Studenica of Hvosno is the peak of the Serbian Golgotha

Art historian Zoran Djordjevic spoke to Kosovo Online about Studenica of Hvosno, which had served in the 90s as a "pasture for livestock" and from its material, houses and even mosques had been built, but he also recalled the story that the Hvosno bells could be heard all the way to Prizren. He states that the fencing of the church is a "shame" and that one culture cannot be nullified by "decrees".

Speaking about Studenica of Hvosno, he explains that it is located near the village of Mala Studenica and was established as the first episcopacy after Zica in 1219 during the time of Saint Sava, later becoming a metropolis. He notes that there is a lot of historical data about the church, and the first bishops "from Jovan, Jefronije, to Prohor, later Maksim and Viktor" are known, emphasizing that it is a Serbian ecclesiastical seat with a rich history.

"Many records, inscriptions, and foundations testify to that. What was not found there and what did not happen during the abolition of the Patriarchate of Pec, the Great Migration of both, which were all the sufferings, everything is documented in historical textbooks, as well as in the Turkish census that was made there, where Serbian villages and Serbian monks were recorded by name and surname. The first research conducted there in the 1930s was by Velimir Jojic, a professor at the Gymnasium in Pec, and some excavation began on that magnificent plateau, from where, according to the story, the Hvosno bells could be heard to Prizren," Djordjevic says.

As he emphasizes, when Varnava Nastic visited that plateau in the 1930s, "that powerful, lonely sanctuary, that peak of the Serbian Golgotha," he suggested building a chapel there.

Djordjevic highlights that from 1966 to 1970, the history of architecture professor Voja Korac conducted extensive research and conservation of the entire complex. Korac, as he told them, former students, said that dozens of houses, fountains, gates, and other buildings in the village had been constructed with hewn material from Studenica of Hvosno.

"Now, that is an interesting piece of information that I would like to highlight. When they noticed that the mosque in the village, mostly built from that hewn material from Studenica of Hvosno, had concealed foundation inscriptions written in Cyrillic and various decorations with arabesques that did not contain any written letters, they re-plastered this mosque in a single night so that the foundation inscriptions wouldn't be visible. If it's theirs, why hide it," our interlocutor wonders.

He repeats the words of Professor Korac that many in the village keep Slavic icons, even though they are not Orthodox.

"I have met these people, I won't mention any names now, who told Professor Korac that they had Slavic icons in their homes, some from the village of Studenica, saying that they kept them as relics from their ancestors, and Slavic icons were known to belong only to the Serbs who celebrated as an Orthodox people, having their own patron saints. The fact that they kept them means that after our tragedies, fractures, migrations of both sides, many people stayed there who embraced Islam and then remembered their old faith," Djordjevic says.

In 1993, when a poetry gathering was organized there, the location of Studenica of Hvosno served as a pasture for livestock.

"There were donkeys, cows, goats, and all sorts of things, and it was all in a poor condition. Then the municipality of Istok fenced it off, and as for the Albanians living there, they didn't make any problems about it," he emphasizes.

In those years, when he met Professor Korac in Belgrade, he asked him to look for a marble slab from the Mother of God in Hvosno.

"Professor Korac told me at that time when we met somewhere around 1993-1994 in Belgrade that one slab had remained, which was about 1.80 meters tall, 60/70 wide, I don't know the exact details. It was made of marble, beautifully decorated, and he said, 'We found it there and left it at the elementary school in Vrelo. Look, search for that slab, see what happened to it'. And that slab is enormous, it weighs about half a ton, and only 11 people lifted it. What happened to the slab? We searched for it at the school director's office and among the people, and they said, 'We have no idea'. However, later on, some information leaked out that this beautiful slab was thrown into a pit where lime was extinguished, at a depth of about 3-4 meters, and then the slab was excavated, and garbage was thrown over it at the school," Djordjevic recalls.

The slab was later found, excavated, cleaned, and taken "with a lot of effort" to the Cultural Center in Istok.

"I went to the Cultural Center in Istok in August 2003, searching for that slab, to see if it was destroyed, if it was broken, and there I found it where we left it, but it was in poor condition. Some cigarette butts were extinguished on it, people climbed on it, but in essence, in 2003, it was at the Cultural Center in Istok on the pedestal that we had left for it," Djordjevic says.

He says that the recent case of fencing off Studenica of Hvosno is a "shame and appropriation of someone else's culture".

"They planned this back in 1981, to either destroy as much as they can or, at least, turn what they can't destroy into some museum exhibits where they can charge entrance fees. Did they fence off Studenica of Hvosno to prevent our pilgrims from coming, or did they want to create some gate and charge entrance fees to those who come?" our interlocutor wonders.

According to him, it would be fine if it were fenced off to protect it.

"If it were fortunate, as it is not if they fenced it off to prevent the spreading of stones, hewn stones, and traces of that magnificent cultural monument, that would be fine. But they are fencing it off, as we can see now, to appropriate, to simply destroy. It's silly to say, but some warn that they intend to - they can't destroy one-third of the monument - but if they can destroy and appropriate the other two-thirds, then they can simply nullify Serbian history," he warns.

He emphasizes that one culture cannot be nullified "by some decrees, some decisions".

"You can't live on forgeries," Djordjevic concludes.