О могућој првобитној функцији цркве успења пресвете богородице у Смедереву
On the possible primary function of the church of ascension of the holy mother of god in Smederevo

Summary/Abstract: The Church of the Ascension of the Holy Mother of God represents the only entirely preserved sacral topos of the last capital of the Serbian medieval state — the fortified city of Smederevo. The last capital, the fortified city of Smederevo, originated after the decision by the new Serbian ruler, Đurađ Branković, in tumultuous historical circumstances of the end of the medieval Serb state, following the loss of both capitals of his predecessors — Kruševac and Belgrade. It was made of three clearly distinct parts: 1) a smaller fort — the castle (the so-called Small Town), which was primarily residential; 2) the fortified urban core (the so-called Big Town); and 3) the inhabited suburb, beyond its fortifications. However, the issue of the sacral sites of this medieval city is much more complex. The written sources (two prose works on the account of the transfer of remains of St. Luke the Apostle to Smederevo in 1453), as well as archaeological and architectural research point that there used to be two churches within the city walls — one designated as courtly, and the other, the Cathedral Church of the Smederevo Metropolitan, designated as the Archdiocese, and dedicated to the festival of Good Word, built and decorated by the Despot Đurađ Branković himself. The third and until today the only completely preserved sacral object related to the medieval city of Smederevo, the Chirch of the Ascension of the Holy Mother of God, was built several hundred meters outside the city walls, at the flat terrain by the nearby heights (today known as so-called Karađorđe's Hill). Many questions related to the architectural plan of the church, as well as its earliest history, still remain unresolved. One of them regards its possible original function. All the hitherto pronounced opinions about this problem could be rejected; these include that it could have been: 1) the same as the Cathedral Church of the Smederevo Metropolitan; 2) the church where the remains of St. Luke the Apostle were buried; 3) a chapel of the medieval cemetery; 4) the grave church of the Despot Đurađ Branković; or 5) the grave church of the Metropolitan Atanasije. A writing from Memories of a Janissary or the Turkish Chronicle, by Konstantin Mihailović, an Ostrovica Serb who later had successful career in the elite units of the Turkish Army, could provide a somewhat more precise answer О првобитној функцији цркве Успења Пресвете Богородице у Смедереву 87 to this problem. When writing about the fortified city of Smederevo, Mihailović also mentions a request by Đurađ Branković to the Turkish Sultan, “that he be allowed to build a monastery without any interference.” Analysis of this statement in light of what we know of the facts about the sacral sites of this medieval city, its architectural grid, especially its rather small size, and the fact that it functioned as a monastery church during its later history, point that we could establish with greater certainty that the Church of the Ascension of the Holy Mother of God in Smederevo was originally built as a church of a nearby monastery. Finally, this also enables one a more complete insight into the sacral topography of the last Serbian medieval capital, the fortified city of Smederevo, made of two sacral topoi within the city walls (the court and the cathedral churches), and one beyond them (a suburban monastery).

• Details
• Contents