Krušedol Monastery

Krušedol was founded between 1509 and 1514 by the Branković family, the last of the medieval Serbian ruling houses, and it became the most important of the Fruška Gora monasteries: the seat of the metropolitanate for a period and the burial place of members of the Branković line, two Serbian patriarchs, Princess Ljubica, wife of Prince Miloš Obrenović, and King Milan Obrenović. The church has frescoes from the sixteenth century and a large body of eighteenth-century painting added after the building was damaged and repaired, so the interior shows two very different periods side by side. The iconostasis and the treasury hold significant icons and manuscripts. The setting is quiet, in vineyards and orchards on the eastern slopes, and a working monastic community lives there.

History

Saint Maksim Branković, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Srem, and his mother Saint Angelina founded the monastery between 1509 and 1514 as the Branković family mausoleum, with support from Neagoe Basarab and Grand Prince Vasili III. In 1670 it had the largest brotherhood on Fruška Gora, 90 monks and 12 elders, and in 1708 it became the seat of the Metropolitanate (Wikipedia, Krušedol Monastery).

What's there

• Two layers of fresco - sixteenth-century work beside eighteenth-century painting.
• The tombs - Branković family members, patriarchs, Princess Ljubica and King Milan.
• The iconostasis - the painted screen and its icons.
• Orchard setting - vineyards and fruit trees on the slopes around.

When to go

April to October for the surroundings; the church is open year round with shorter winter hours. Services are held daily and visitors should keep clear of them. Weekends bring more traffic from Novi Sad and Belgrade.

Good to know

This is a working monastery: modest dress is required, women may be asked to cover, and photography inside the church is usually forbidden. Interpretation is limited and mostly in Serbian. The frescoes are dark and hard to read without knowing what to look for.

Nearby

Fruška Gora park surrounds it; Sremski Karlovci lies northeast.

Key facts