Devič: Encyclopedia - Devič

Devič

Devič (Девич) is a female Serbian Orthodox Monastery in Drenica district , near Srbica, in the Serbian province of Kosovo-Metohia. The monastery is dedicated to St. Joannicius of Devic. It was built at beginning of 15th century.

The founder of the monastery is thought to be Despot Đurađ Branković, who had it built in memory of his daughter. In the Turkish census from 1455, the monastery is mentioned as the church of the Theotokos (dedicated to the Entrance the Holy Theotokos Mary into the Temple). During Turkish occupation the monastery was pulled down, but the church and the site with the grave of St. Joannicius was reconstructed, and was painted in 1578.

The monastery was destroyed and burnt down during WWII in 1941, at the hands of Albanian quisling forces, the Prior Damaskin Bošković was killed, and Italian troops disassembled the two big bells and took them away, in 1942. It was rebuilt in 1947.

Devič was a target of the KLA in 1999 and vandalized with one nun being reportedly raped. The marble tomb of the patron saint St. Joanikije of Devic was desecrated by local Albanian extremists in June 1999. For three days nuns and hieromonk Seraphim were exposed to humilitations and harrassments. Since then it has been under the constant eye of French KFOR troops.

It was the target of new attacks by Albanians in the most serious unrest in Kosovo on March 18, 2004 when the nuns were evacuated for safety reasons by Danish KFOR troops. Following that the monastery was pillaged and torched. The Serbian Orthodox Church received confirmation of the monastery's plight the following day from UNMIK.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Devič", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki