Панчевачко читалиште - The reconstruction of Hilandar monastery

The reconstruction of Hilandar monastery

During the late night hours, between 3rd and 4th of march 2004, the Hilandar monastery caught fire in which more than half of the monastery premises burned. This unfortunate event is considered as one of the biggest losses of Serbian cultural and historic heritage, alongside the destruction of the National Library of Serbia during the nazi bombing in 1941.

The damage overall is: 4603 square meters of monastery land badly damaged, within which 1968.5 square meters of the facility area were destroyed to the ground (which is 42.78% of total monastery premises). Exactly 5.761 square meters out of total 10.500 square meters was destroyed by fire (54.87% of total usable area). Eight facilities caught fire while St. King Milutin`s dining room (dating back from 14th century) and the Chapel of the Holy Archangels` undergone some partial damage from a nearby fire.

A part of monastery complex has been rebuilt, starting from 2004. (the Senara, the Gatekeepers lodge and a dormitory dating back from 1814. also known as “the Sinodik” – the central part of the Great dormitory). Some of the construction works already started at western and eastern wing of the Great dormitory. A pre-determined deadline for completing the reconstruction of the Great dormitory had to be changed from 2011 to 2012. The reconstruction of the entrance to the old dormitory as well as the additional strengthening of the foundations on the southwestern part of monastery complex, and reconstruction of Dochia*, Igumenaria** and the “White Dormitory” are yet to be done.

Seven years ago, during the time when news about the fire in Hilandar shook the public in Serbia, one of the first reactions by the Serbian Orthodox Church was to open a bank account dedicated to collecting the donations for the reconstruction. The help came from all directions – from the State, from craft Associations and also from many individual entrepreneurs which offered to provide their employees` services (mostly masons and carpenters).

During the period from 2004. to 2008. the Serbian Government in cooperation with Ministry of Culture had been donating one million euros annually to Hilandar`s reconstruction fund. Including the last donation in 2009., the sum of all donations would be around 5.5 million euros. Serbian Orthodox Church was able to raise around 2 million euros which is the same amount that the Athos Heritage Preservation Centre (ΚεΔΑΚ) was able to gather, although they were unable to provide any resources last year.

Ever since 2005. there was significant decrease of funding. Since 2009. Serbia had to decrease the annual donation by half, while the reserve fund of Hilandar monastery dried out briefly after.

According to the latest assessment, additional 9 million euros are needed in order to finish the reconstruction. Another appeal for help was recently announced by the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox church.

The fact is that, even with the stagnation caused mainly by the economic crisis, the assets so far invested in reconstruction of Hilandar are significant and the construction works are not fully suspended. Despite the financial difficulties, the spiritual life in Hilandar, as the most important element, did not lose its intensity.

The project for the reconstruction of Hilandar monastery, in the state of global crisis, surely demands patience of the monastery fraternity as well as of the public. This requires accepting the current state of the monastery complex, which means that about 70% of infrastructure is still not usable and the deadline for completion of the reconstruction (2014) has already been delayed.

* One of the facilities used to receive and accommodate guests.
** Prior`s working space.

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