МИТРОПОЛИЈСКА ЦРКВА БЛАГОВЕШТЕЊА У СМЕДЕРЕВУ
METROPOLITANATE CHURCH OF THE ANNUNCIATION IN SMEDEREVO

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the church of the Annunciation in the Smederevo Metropolitanate, built by despot Đurađ Branković. In 1453, the relics of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke were placed in this sumptuous church, modelled upon Manasija, and in 1456 and 1458, despot Đurađ and his son and successor Lazar were probably buried there. In the early period of the Ottoman rule, after the second conquest of Smederevo in 1459, this important sacral building was demolished under unexplained circumstances, and its place has still not been found. The aim of the paper is to determine, based on Ottoman sources, the religious status of this church after the conquest and the reasons for and time of its destruction. A focus is also placed on the impact of the demolition and removal of this central sacral building in Smederevo on the urban structure of the town. A particular emphasis is placed on locating the church of the Annunciation, by relying on new knowledge about the distribution of religious, military, economic and residential buildings in the Smederevo fortress in the first decades of the Ottoman rule.

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