LIBERATED NIS HISTORY

LIBERATED NIŠ
HISTORY

In the very town of Niš, still violent Turks were strictly controlling the buildup of Christian places of worship during the first half of the 19th century. The best evidence for the living and working conditions certainly is the shape of the Church of Sts. Archangels Gabriel and Michael - the Minor Cathedral, dating from 1819. It was built owing to the support of metropolitan Melentije, after getting the official permission from the Turkish administration, of course. It resembled an Early-Christian catacomb rather than a church, being that its major part was buried underground and it was without any windows and enclosed with a high fence, so as to be out of the sight of the Moslems.

General political and economical circumstances in Europe and in the Balkans, as well as the reforms inside the Turkish Empire in the 19th century, enabled formation of the middle class in Niš out of the immigrants from the surrounding villages. The middle class got strong enough in Niš by the middle of the 19th century, so as to provide the means necessary for the construction of a great cathedral. The collection of financial donations for the building of the Great Cathedral started in 1854, upon the initiative of bishop Joanićije. The Cathedral was finished in 1872.

The first temple to be built in Niš after the Turks had been expelled was the Church of St. Panteleimon. This important cultural event marked the end of Osmanli occupation and the beginning of a new, Serbian tradition-based construction of Niš.

Exactly 110 years had elapsed before a new church, a part of the Chilandar-Appendant Church Estate, was built in Niš in 1987. The new church is dedicated to St. Sava and its architecture represents a mixture of Serbian medieval tradition and postmodern academic knowledge. Its fundaments were consecrated by bishop Irinej Gavrilović, accompanied by Senior Nikanor.