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Decani Monastery is located in Metohija, near a village with the same name, in decani municipality of the Republic of Serbia, Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), geographic latitude: 42° 32' 48" N, geographic longitude: 20° 16' 18" E; distance from equator (along the meridian arc): Le 4730 km, distance from the Greenwich meridian (along the parallel arc): Lg 1660 km. The geographic location of Decani Monastery - at the exit of the Decanska Bistrica river gorge, at the foot of the north-eastern slopes of the Prokletije mountain range, on the western rim of the Metohija basin - provides it with a high degree of protection from the pressures of settlement development and industrial activities. The monastery represents private property. The owner of the property is the Serb Orthodox Church, as a civil-legal subject, i.e. decani Monastery Administration. The total area of the immediate protected surrounding amounts to 111,64,40 ha and mostly coincides with the boundaries of the land lots belonging to the monastery. The monastery brotherhood consists of about 35 monks. The fist building that was founded at the site of the monastrey was the church. Its construction lasted for 8 years (1327-1335). At the same time the church was being erected, monastery defense walls with a tower over the entrance, a monumental refectory and the monks' dormitories were also built. The construction of these buildings was consigned to proto-master Dorde and his brothers, Dobrosav and Nikola. Decoration of the church with fresco paintings began in 1335 and lasted a decade and a half (until 1347/1348), so that Decani became not only the royal, but also the imperial endowment, since Dusan was crowned Emperor of the Serb state in the meantime (1345). A large number of artists participated in decorating the temple, one of who - Srd the Sinful - signed himself in the north nave of the naos. One of Dusan's noblemen, Dorde Ostousa Pecpal, helped with the fresco decorations, and his grave with a marble sarcophagus is located in the narthex. In 1349, just before the wall paintings were completed, the most important legal act ever to emerge among the South Slav nations - Dusan's Code - was enacted.

Cross Reference to related Monument

Monastery walls

Dormitories

Refectory

Monastery Temple - Katholikon

Monastery Walls

Basic Momument Information:

Originator of Reference: Institute for the Protection of the Cultural Monuments of the Republic of Serbia Country: Republic of Serbia Monument Category: Building Functional Type: Defensive Structure Monument Type:Fortification Monument Sub-typeFortification with Towers Principal Name: Monastery Walls Principal Date: 14th century A.D Byzantine Date: Late Byzantine Person in Charge: Mrs. Sanja Kesic - Ristic, Senior Art Historian - Conservator Organization of Person in Charge:

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The monastery walls form a circle inside which all the buildings necessary for day-to-day monastery life (dormitories, refectory) are placed, with the main monastery temple - the katholikon - in the center, oriented West to East.

Decani Monastery Church

Basic Momument Information:

Originator of Reference: Institute for the Protection of the Cultural Monuments of the Republic of Serbia Country: Republic of Serbia Monument Category: Building Functional Type: Religious Building Monument Type:Christian Church Monument Sub-typeMonastry Katholikon Principal Name: Decani Monastery Church Principal Date: 14th century A.D Byzantine Date: Late Byzantine Person in Charge: Mrs. Sanja Kesic - Ristic, Senior Art Historian - Conservator Organization of Person in Charge:

Information Text:

Decani is the largest Serb medieval church and it is the endowment and mausoleum of Serb King Stefan Dcfanski. The original founding charter from 1330 has been preserved, and is today kept at the Archive of Serbia. The construction lasted 8 years (1327-1335), and the master builder was Fra Vita, a Franciscan from Kotor. Stefan Decanski died before the construction was completed, and he was buried in the temple. Supervision of the architectural work and painting of the church was continued by his son Dusan. At the same time the church was being erected, monastery defense walls with a tower over the entrance, a monumental refectory and the monks' dormitories were also built. The construction of these buildings was consigned to proto-master Dorde and his brothers, Dobrosav and Nikola. Outside,the church appears as a basilica with three naves and a square-based cupola, while inside it is a church of the developed inscribed cross type, with lateral aisles and a spacious narthex. It has a three-part semicircular apse on the East. The exterior is decorated with sculptures (around the entrances and windows, below the roof cornice) belonging to a blend of Romanesque and Gothic styles. The whole building is covered with slabs of pink and yellowish marble. Decoration of the church with fresco paintings began in 1335 and lasted a decade and a half (until 1347/1348). The inside is completely covered with wall paintings. Over 20 cycles of scenes are depicted and beside them about 1000 individual images of saints. The original iconostasis with icons from the 14th century is preserved in the church. The Decani Monastery treasury is the largest preserved medieval Serb treasury, with numerous icons, church mobiliary and liturgical objects collected over the centuries. A large number of artists participated in decorating the temple, one of who - Srd the Sinful - signed himself in the north nave of the naos. One of Dusan's noblemen, Dorde Ostousa Pecpal, helped with the fresco decorations, and his grave with a marble sarcophagus is located in the narthex. In 1349, just before the wall paintings were completed, the most important legal act ever to emerge among the South Slav nations - Dusan's Code - was enacted.

Pictures of the Church:

The Decani Church	Naos, vault of the west bay of the middle nave
Narthex, Menologion, Sts. Zenobius and Zenobia

Construction Characteristics:

Interventions on the Church Wall Paintings:

1935-1940	Conservation activities were undertaken because of the existence of vertical cracks in the areas next to the doors and windows, where the wall stone covering separated itself from the rest of the wall material - due to existence of several construction layers and their weakening connections. Individual wall panels of the outer covering were then rebuilt and injected with cement milk. It is assumed, judging from the existing descriptions of damages and repairs then carried out, that the wall paintings had suffered great damages before that period.
1952-53	Preventive protection was performed on the narthex frescoes which were inclined to fail off. After cleaning the frescoes, all structural cracks along the walls and arches were filled with fresco mortar, and toned to the local tone according to the surrounding color. At this time, smaller attempts were made to restore the ornamental decorations.
1957-1961	Painting conservation activities were carried out in the church dome, in part of the naos, in the chapel of St. Nikola, and in the narthex on different types of structural damages: consolidation of fresco structures by injecting, fixing, strengthening the fresco edges, filling, and re-touching. Parts of the fresco paintings were cleaned from materials sedimented and deposited on the painting surfaces. During 1962, work was continued on the frescoes in the narthex.
1988-1991	Painting conservation activities were performed on the north-eastern wall of the narthex, western wall of the naos and the chapel of St. Demetrius, in the part of the church beneath the cupola, and in the south-western bay of the naos. The painting conservation activities included strengthening the edges of the damaged parts of the frescoes, fixing the separating layers, consolidation, and cleaning the hardened layers of dirt deposited by water and petrified salts from the painting structure of the frescoes.
1994	Some less extensive activities were carried out in the chapel of St. Demetrius, under the window on the northern wall in three bays.

Architectural Interventions:

1935-1941	The foundations were strengthened and the church structure tightened with encircling reinforced steel trusses on the level of the lowest roof support frames, in order to repair the numerous cracks on the ceiling and arches. The stone covering of the north facade of the narthex was also rebuilt during this period.
1952	Partial repairs of the cracks in the walls and arches of the narthex were carried out using concrete fillings
1956-1964	Repairs of the church facades were,carried out, including the removal of dirt and micro-flora from the facades and their hydrophobic protection with appropriate silicones. The repair works also included replacement of very damaged blocks and elements of the south portal, as well as making casts of sculptured elements -the small consoles of the arcade frieze and the capitals on the biforia of the cupola drum. Protection of the capital friezes and some sculptures was performed using cement mortar.

Other Interventions:

1960's	Replacement of the lead roof covering on the church was started
1984-1989	Replacement of the lead roof covering was completed
1994	Cleaning of the narthex facade and altar space was initiated and the micro-flora and dirt were removed with brushes
1995-1997	Conservation activities were once again undertaken on all the church facades - removal of cement mortar fillings form the sculptures, removal of dirt and micro-flora by washing the walls with water under pressure, repeated block connection leveling and injection on all the facade walls. After this, hydrophobic protection was carried out on all the facade surfaces (except for those treated in 1994 -the side aisles of the naos, altar, and apses). Hydrophobization did not cover the portals and windows, large individual sculptures, and the small consoles of the blind arcade frieze beneath the roof support. These elements were treated separately. Static repairs were carried out on the large individual sculptures on the western facade and the small console of the lamb on the western facade of the narthex. The portals, triforia, and biforias of the narthex were cleaned, and the cracks that had appeared on some of their elements were repaired using the same method as on the facade blocks. AH the sculptures on the arcade frieze were cleaned and crack repair was performed on them.

Dormitories

Basic Momument Information:

Originator of Reference: Institute for the Protection of the Cultural Monuments of the Republic of Serbia Country: Republic of Serbia Monument Category: Building Functional Type: Residential Building Monument Type:Dormitory Monument Sub-typeMonastery Dormitory Principal Name: Dormitories Principal Date: 14th century A.D Byzantine Date: Late Byzantine Person in Charge: Mrs. Sanja Kesic - Ristic, Senior Art Historian - Conservator Organization of Person in Charge:

Refectory

Basic Momument Information:

Originator of Reference: Institute for the Protection of the Cultural Monuments of the Republic of Serbia Country: Republic of Serbia Monument Category: Building Functional Type: Gathering Building Monument Type:Refectory Principal Name: Refectory Principal Date: 14th century A.D Byzantine Date: Late Byzantine Person in Charge: Mrs. Sanja Kesic - Ristic, Senior Art Historian - Conservator Organization of Person in Charge: