Vlach Church Explained

Building Name:Vlach Church
Native Name:Влашка Црква
Religious Affiliation:Serbian Orthodox Church
State:Montenegro
Municipality:Cetinje
Status:Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral
Founded By:Vlachs who guarded the cattle of Ivan Crnojević
Facade Direction:West

The Vlach Church (Serbian: Влашка cрква|Vlaška crkva) is a Serbian Orthodox church built in 1450 in the village of Donji Kraj,[1] on the Cetinje field, at that time part of Zeta (present-day Montenegro).

Stećci

The church was built around 1450 on the site of a Bogomil necropolis that included around 150 stećci (monumental, ornate tombstones).[2] Only two of these have been preserved to this day. Originally facing each other, they were recently reoriented to be side by side.[3] According to some legends, recorded for the first time by Ljubomir Nenadović,[4] the 17th-century military commander Bajo Pivljanin and his wife are buried beneath them.[5] According to another legend and documentary evidence, the stećci mark the graves of the founders of the church — Ivan Borojević, born in Stari Vlah, and his wife Jelica.[6]

Origin of the name

One theroy states that the church received its name from the Vlachs who guarded the cattle of Ivan Crnojević and built the church around 1450.[7] [8]

There are several additional theories about the origin of the term Vlach in the name of the church. Some authors believe that the term in the name of this church is used as an exonym.[2] Other theories connect the name of the church to the fact that the terms such as "Vlach's church" or "Vlach's rituals" were indicators of membership in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Orthodoxy[9] or to demonym Vlach (according to them this church was allegedly built by settlers from Stari Vlah in modern Serbia).[10]

Building materials

The church was initially made of sticks (Serbian: плот|plot), switches and mud and was rebuilt three times. At first, it was redone in stones without mortar (Serbian: сувомеђа|suvomeđa), then in stones with lime mortar (Serbian: клачена|klačena) and finally, in 1864, the church received its current form.[11] [12] A guard rail around the church was built in 1897 using barrels of Ottoman rifles[13] captured in 1858 during the Battle of Grahovac.[14]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Simo Popović. Jovan R. Bojović. Novica Rakočević. Memoari. 26 April 2013. 1995. CID. 41. "Влашка црква" коју је сада захватила варош била је прије рата још далеко од Цетиња на голој пољани. Она управо и не припада Цетињу него Доњем крају још од старога времена, када није ни било Цетиња. .
  2. Book: Ratko Đurović. Crnom Gorom. 26 April 2013. 1969. "Binoza," Grafički zavod Hrvatske. 97.
  3. Batričević. Đuro. Cvetko Pavlović . Legende o Vlaškoj crkvi. Pobjeda. 10 September 2004. 27 April 2013. Prema Erdeljanovićevoj zabiljeci, dva sačuvana nadgrobna kamena bila su najprije okrenuta uzglavljem jedan prema drugom, pa su „u najnovije vrijeme” stavljeni naporedo..
  4. Batričević. Đuro. Cvetko Pavlović . Legende o Vlaškoj crkvi. Pobjeda. 10 September 2004. 27 April 2013. Ljubomir Nenadović bio je prvi koji je zapisao da su pomenuti nadgrobni kamenovi pripadali istaknutom hajdučkom harambaši Baju Nikoliću Pivljaninu i njegovoj supruzi..
  5. Book: Draško Šćekić. Draško Šćekić. Putujući Crnom Gorom. 26 April 2013. 1987. NIO "UR". 102.
  6. Batričević. Đuro. Cvetko Pavlović . Legende o Vlaškoj crkvi. Pobjeda. 10 September 2004. 27 April 2013. Naime, prema legendi, sačuvani nadgrobni spomenici pripadali su Ivanu Borojeviću i njegovoj ženi Jelici..
  7. Book: Narodno stvaralaštvo: Folklor. 26 April 2013. 1962. Nauchno delo. 17. Познато је да су чобани Ивана Црнојевића по Цетињском пољу и кроз Ловћен чували стоку. Они су саградили цркву..
  8. Book: Istorijski zapisi: organ Istoriskog instituta i Društva istoričara SR Crne Gore. 26 April 2013. 1948. Istorijski institut u Titogradu. 246. Влашка црква је подигнута од пастира Ивана Црнојевића.
  9. Book: Zlatko Kudelić. Marčanska biskupija: Habsburgovci, pravoslavlje i crkvena unija u Hrvatsko-slavonskoj vojnoj krajini (1611. - 1755). 26 April 2013. 2007. Hrvatski Inst. za Povijest. 978-953-6324-62-0. 131. pojmovi "vlaška crkva" ili "vlaški ili grčki obred" označavali su pripadnost Pravoslavnoj crkvi i pravoslavlju..
  10. Book: Јован Ердељановић. Стара Црна Гора: етничка прошлост и формирање црногорских племена. 26 April 2013. 1926. Слово љубве. 299. ...што су они били по- реклом из Старог Влаха, ова њихова црквица добије назив Влашка Црква .... Да су ту цркву заиста градили ови досељеници из Старога Влаха.
  11. Batričević. Đuro. Cvetko Pavlović . Legende o Vlaškoj crkvi. Pobjeda. 10 September 2004. 27 April 2013. Ona je prvobitno bila opletena prućem i oblijepljena blatom, a bila je sagrađena od „plota” i „kočeva”. Vlaška crkva je tri puta prepravljana: prvo kao suvomeđa, zatim od „klačnog zida”, da bi najzad, 1864. godine, dobila svoj današnji izgled. .
  12. Book: Ilustrovani zvanični almanah-šematizam Zetske banovine. 27 April 2013. 1931. Državna štamparija. 251. Влашка Црква, сазидана како данас изгледа 1864 на темепьима старе цркве из 1450.
  13. Book: Michael Spring. Great Europ Itinerar. 26 April 2013. 20 February 1987. Doubleday. 978-0-385-23336-1. 224. The railings around the fifteenth-century Vlah Church (Vlaska crkva) were made in 1897 from barrels of 1,550 captured Turkish rifles. .
  14. Book: Glasnik Srpskog istorijsko-kulturnog društva "Njegoš".. 26 April 2013. 1979. Njegoš. 125. Одмах је ту и Влашка црква, са чувеном оградом од пушчаних цијеви, пушака заробљених у граховској бици.

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