Serbia Bridge between East and West

Mileševa Monastery

www.dommuseum.at

Serbian Church North & South America

www.serbianorthodoxchurch.net

www.serb-kirche.at

Motive on the poster: The White Angel, a dominant detail from the fresco Angel on the tomb, from the scene The Resurrection of Christ, painted in the church of the Mileševa monastery, built and painted in 1234-1236. Mileševa monastery is the endowment of King Vladislav, it is located in the South of Serbia, near Prijepolje.

The Serbian Orthodox Church (Serbian: Српска православна црква / Srpska pravoslavna crkva; СПЦ / SPC) or the Church of Serbia is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia. It is the second oldest Slavic Orthodox Church in the world (after the Bulgarian Orthodox Church), as well as the westernmost Eastern church in Europe. It exercises jurisdiction over Orthodox Christians in Serbia and surrounding Slavic and other lands, as well as exarchates and patriarchal representation churches around the world. The Patriarch of Serbia serves as first among equals in his church; The current patriarch is His Holiness Irinej. The Serbian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous, or ecclesiastically independent, member of the Orthodox communion, located primarily in Serbia (including Kosovo), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Republic of Macedonia[4], as well as Croatia. Since many Serbs have emigrated to foreign countries, there are now Serbian Orthodox communities worldwide. Read More: > HERE <

The Dommuseum, in cooperation with Matica Srpska, the oldest cultural and scientific institution of Serbia, and the collaboration of the ecumenical foundation Pro Oriente under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Serbia Boris TadiÄ, and the President of the Republic of Austria Heinz Fischer, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Municipality in Vienna, presents Serbia’s rich cultural heritage of the past twelve centuries.

It is generally considered that the nature and direction of the development of Serbian culture was determined long ago by the medieval educator and founder of the autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church, Rastko NemanjiÄ, St. Sava (1175–1235), who saw Serbia, in his speeches and writings, as a bridge connecting the eastern and western parts of the world. During a period that lasted for many centuries and under the influence of Byzantium, Turkey, Russia and countries of Central and Western Europe, a specific culture originated representing the bond between the East and the West. This culture, however, does not represent a mere combination of the different foreign traditions, but a new culture of great spiritual value as recognized specially through Serbian Orthodoxy (Svetosavlje), the Serbian architectural style, an unique Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, rich literature, a distinctive philosophy of life within which elements of eastern collectivism and western individualism interlace, a rich history of endowments, significant contribution to science and fine arts.

The exhibits are of great historical and artistic value and together with multimedia presentations reflect the permeation of the East and the West in Serbian tradition and culture.

From the permanent exhibitions and collections of the National Museum in Belgrade, the Matica Srpska Gallery in Novi Sad, the Matica Srpska Library in Novi Sad, the Gallery of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade, the Serbian Orthodox Church Museum in Belgrade, the Belgrade City Museum and the Serbian Historical Museum, have singled out items presenting fresco art and icons from the most significant medieval Serbian monasteries built under the influence of Byzantine culture, art of the baroque era, as turning points in the approach towards and acceptance of the Western European cultural model, and finally, the rebuilding of social institutions, following the emancipation from the centuries-long Turkish domination. The exhibition presents renowned personalities from Serbian history that have given a significant contribution to humanity in the fields of culture and science.

The following portraits are presented in the exhibition: Mihailo Pupin, world renowned scientist and professor at Columbia University in New York; Nikola Tesla, one of the most deserving inventors in the field of electrical engineering in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Milutin MilankoviÄ, founder of theory of cyclical climatic changes; Ivo AndriÄ, Noble Laureate for literature in 1961.

In five rooms of the Dommuseum are presented five eras:

  • Serbian medieval art from the 10th to the 15th century
  • Serbian Art from the 16th to the 17th century
  • Serbian art in the 18th century
  • Serbian art in the 19th century
  • Serbian cultural heritage at the crossroads between the 20th and the 21st centuries