Back to the 13th century - the timeless spirit of Raca monastery in Serbia

Hello everyone, today I visited a special historical place that still impresses me. On the way back from my family's winter holiday on Tara mountain, we turned off the road and headed for the Raca monastery, nestled near Bajina Basta town in western Serbia.

I have always been interested in places where you can experience a combination of the distant past and nature, and this place was exactly like that.

When we started from Tare mountain, everything was frozen.

We took another short walk and went on a tour of the surroundings. I couldn't wait to get into the car because it was really cold unlike the previous days when we had beautiful sunny weather with lots of snow.

Founded in the 13th century by king Dragutin Nemanjic, the Raca monastery has for centuries radiated a deep spiritual presence that is still there today.

As we approached the monastery, the sound of the Raca river accompanied us. The river flows fast and brings some incredible energy, you simply feel strong and powerful listening to that sound. What I especially liked, the river is protected and untouched, with fishing strictly prohibited. I like places that have respect for nature.

The monastery looks very imposing because it is mostly preserved. It was built in the 13th century, but it suffered many turbulent historical moments, as is the case with all monasteries in my country.

There were several attempts to destroy what was kept, the precious books that were copied by hand here. But luckily a lot of it was saved.

We looked at the original manuscripts in the treasury room within the monastery, read wise sayings with our children and curiously explored with them the items that were found in this area.

One of the largest books we have ever seen was the Holy Gospel printed in Moscow in the 18th century. It has a great value.

When we entered the church it was peaceful and quiet and very cold.

We admired the frescoes, which speak silently through their colors and pictures of great artistic value.

The tall bell tower rises above the complex, drawing the eye upward and symbolically connecting earth and sky.

There was a fountain in front where they say it is good to wash yourself with holy, beneficial water. As I'm not that religious, I usually don't believe in miracle stories, but something pulled me to wash my face. Maybe I'd like to believe.

In several places we saw a monument dedicated to a man who looked like a saint, but at first we didn't know who it was.

Then we learned that the Raca monastery was significantly restored in the 18th century by him, Hieromonk Hadzi Milentije Stefanovic, whose efforts ensured the survival of this sacred place through difficult times.

Leaving Raca and moving on to our city, I took the opportunity to take another deep breath of fresh air in this natural environment and felt a rare sense of calm, silence and continuity. If it hadn't been so cold, we would have definitely explored the forest trails in the area...

But it's good to leave a reason for come back and be there again.

Thank you for reading.

Jelena