Celije Monastery
Celije Monastery is dedicated to St. Archangel Michael. It is tucked away in untouched nature between mountain slopes, on the left bank of the Gradac River, near the city of Valjevo.The monastery probably owes its name to the numerous monks’ cells that can be seen in the rocky caves of the nearby cliffs.
Apart from the main church, in the monastery yard you can see an interesting charnel. It holds the bones of the numerous anonymous people found in the monastery grounds by nuns when they single-handedly rebuilt the monastery after WWII.
Celije Monastery has a beautiful yard, with a lot of fir trees, flower beds and lawns. Dormitory building is made of red brick and white stone in a very unusual architectural style.
The Gradac River, one of the cleanest rivers in Serbia, runs just behind the monastery. Its cold water is excellent for drinking.
{tab=history}
History of Celije Monastery
It is not known who built the monastery, nor when. The monastery is believed to have been founded by Serbian king Dragutin, who reigned this area from 1282 to 1316.
A local legend has it that three brothers of the Nemanjic royal dynasty built three monasteries in this area: Celije, Jovanje and Pustinja.
However, the monastery was most likely founded during the reign of Despot Stefan Lazarevic (1389-1427) in the times of social and religious revival of Western Serbia. At the time, the town of Valjevo was the residence of the metropolitan bishop, while the main church was in the Celije Monastery.
In the Ottoman days, Celije Monastery was demolished and burned down several times, and each time rebuilt in the same spot. The most famous priests of that period were Danilo Vukasinovic, who took part in the meeting of Serbian leaders in Belgrade in 1733, famous Hadzi-Ruvim, and others.
In the first half of the 18th century, Serbs lined with Austrians who were subsequently defeated by the Turks. Serbian people migrated to the north, led by archbishop Arsenije IV Jovanovic. In 1739, near Celije Monastery, a few thousand Serbian families were massacred by the Turks. Since then, the nearby village has been known under the name “Lelici” or ”Leleci” (“lelek” meaning lament, mourning, cry of despair).
In the second half of the 18th century, the monks of Celije Monastery took part in the uprising led by Koca Kapetan, which was the reason why the Turks burned the monastery to the ground in 1791. Soon after that, the monastery was rebuilt by the Serbs. In that time the abbot of the monastery was Hadzi–Ruvim.
In 1804 the clergy of Celije Monastery took part in organizing the First Serbian Uprising led by Karadjordje. In the monastery you can see the grave of Duke Ilija Bircanin, killed by the Turks in 1804 along with other prominent Serbian leaders.
In 1810 the Turks burned the monastery down once again, but the Serbs rebuilt it in 1811, with the help of rich Armenians from Valjevo. The main dome was built in the Armenian style after the wish of one of the Armenian benefactors.
From 1804 to 1813 Celije Monastery housed Karadjordje’s military hospital. Later, in Milos Obrenovic’s liberated Serbia, the elementary boarding school operated in the monastery. The school was also attended by bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic, a Serbian religious thinker and writer of the 20th century.
During the WWI the Austrians pulled the monastery down, but it was soon rebuilt just to be demolished again in WWII. After the war the monastery was rebuilt by nuns, who found a large number of old bones in the ground, dating from different periods. They rinsed them with wine and placed them into a little charnel just next to the main church building. The charnel has the shape of a big white cube with a wooden bell-tower.
Famost priest and theologist dr. Justin Popovic lived in the Celije monastery from 1948 until his death in the 70’s. Nicknamed Ave Justin, he was the author of a number of theological works and one of the founders of the Serbian Philosophical Society.
{tab=getting there}Getting to Celije Monastery
Celije Monastery is located about 6 km southwest of Valjevo, on the left bank of the Gradac River. Gradac is a sinking river, springing from the foot of Povlen Mountain. After a few kilometers it goes underground, to appear again near the village of Bogatici, above the Celije Monastery. From Bogatici, the river runs through a winding gorge all the way down to the monastery.
There are two daily busses connecting Valjevo and the monastery. Valjevo can easily be reached by bus from Belgrade.
The monastery itself is near the village of Lelic, in a green valley between the hills called Vrane, Markovac, Presadi, Kaludjersko Brdo and Celijske Urvine.
Concealed by the hills, the monastery complex can't be seen until you've come out of the forest and into the valley. There is a winding dirt road branching off from the main asphalt road to Valjevo, and going all the way down to the monastery.
{tab=things to see}What to see in Celije Monastery?
The church of Celije Monastery, devoted to the archangels Michael and Gabriel, has a basis in form of a byzantine basilica. The ceiling is 11 meters high, and the nine-sided dome symbolizes nine archbishop ranks. The last restauration of the dome took place in 1936 when it acquired its present look.
The monastery is located in a beautiful landscape, in the Gradac River valley, surrounded by hills covered in thick forest. This creates an atmoshpere of tranquility and isolation. About 5 minutes walk down from the monastery is the Gradac River basin. The Gradac is one of the cleanest rivers in Serbia and offers excellent drinking water.
The vast monastery yard is surrounded by a wooden fence. Beside the church there is a dormitory and a charnel house. There is also a bell tower and a couple of old graves, including the Duke Ilija Bircanin’s grave on the north side and the grave of St. Ave Justin in the south.
The dormitory building is a mixture of the Serbian and Byzantine styles, and one part of it is a chapel dedicated to St. John Chrysostom. In the dormitory complex there is a dining room as well as other additional chambers.
The interior of the church is whitewashed, without any frescoes. A number of old and new wooden icons can be seen on the walls. An old copy of the Holy Bible, which once belonged to Serbian religious leader Prota Mateja Nenadovic, is kept in the monastery.
Every year there is a group christening ceremony in the nearby Gradac River. Few hundred persons are christened at the same time, in the way Jesus Christ was christened in the River Jordan.
