Хиландарски Часни крст и стара манастирска ставротека
The Holy Cross in Нilandar and the Old Monastery Staurotheke

Summary/Abstract: According to the monastery tradition noted down in the 19th century, the Holy Cross in Нilandar was presented hу Јоhn III Vatatzes to the first Serbian Archbishop, Sava Nemanjic. Its trustworthiness is indirectly confirmed bу а charter of the Ecumenical Patriarch Samuel I of 1 July 1768, the first census of Greek documents in Нilandar in the 0ld Serbian language from 1299/1300, and Teodosije's Life of St Sava from the close of the 13th or the outset of the 13th сеntury. Тhе existence of the Holy Cross in Hilandar is also attested hу the old wooden Staurotheke. Тhе painted ornamentation customary for this type of reliquary, featuring Sts Constantine and Helen and busts of Archangels Michael and Gahriel, is the work of а painter who was acquainted with the most advanced stylistic сunеnts in the 13th century. Тhе damaged state of the painted decoration of the Staurotheke does not permit us to date it with certainty. St Sava mау hаvе probably brought in it the Holy Cross from Asia Minor in the second half of 1229, but it is not improbable that it was commissioned hу Нilandar monks after the relic had аrrivеd at the monastery.

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