THE CHURCH OF THE BIRTH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST – Nadalj

The building of orthodox church in Nadalj started in April 1811, and it was finished in August 1813, as it is inscribed in the vault of the church at the place where the alter is separated from the soleil. The church was sanctified by Sava Bekrić, the archpriest from Žabalj, on the day of Saint Apostle Andrija Prvozvani, on the 30th November 1813, with the participation of many priests and presence of a great number of locals and guests. Saint Patron’s Day of the church is St. Ivan (John Harbinger), which is on the 7th July according to the new calendar. According to Veljko Petrović, the iconostasis of the church was made by Jeftimije Popović. The length of the building is 27 meters, and the width is 9 meters, the height of the walls is 10 meters, and the height of the tower is 30 meters, without the roof. In April 1849, after the battle at Sentomaš, the people from Nadalj ran from the village in panic, since the village was burnt to the grounds right afterwards. The church was burnt as well: alter tables, windows, the roof and the upper part of the tower. After the establishment of peace, the refugees returned to the ravaged village and in front of the church they found the burnt parts of the iconostasis. The church was cleaned right away, and instead of the iconostasis a piece of panel was put up, and after a while a wooden alter septum with a couple of icons was set. In May 1850, The Emperor Franc Josef approved a sum of 500.000 forints for the restoration of the damaged churches on the territory of former Dukedom of Serbia and Tames Banat. Special boards were assessing the damage in each place. The orthodox churches in Šajkaš got 82.883 forints and 9 silver coins. The damage in Nadalj was estimated at 12.266 forints, and the damage on the church cost only 7.678 forints. For the restoration of the church the village got an amount of 6.868 silver forints. The help to the churches in Šajkaš arrived from Russia as well. The church in Nadalj received a couple of valuable books among which is also the Psalter printed in St. Petersburg in 1783. During the 50s of the 19th century, new roof and a wooden tower with a clock were built. The present masonry tower was finished in 1880, and the new clock was put up. The churchyard with the cross, found in the middle of the village was fenced by lattice with brick columns, and in 1885 a fence was put up in front of the church, which stands there even today. One part of the fence was put up in from of The House of St. Sava in 1914. In 1887, a great storm damaged the roof of the church, so the Church Board made the decision to sell three hectares of land to get the money for the repairs. Two years later the church received 150 forints for the same purpose. According to the report of the Eparchy of Bačka from 1893, the church in Nadalj was in good condition from the inside, but the outside repairs had not been finished yet. The church municipality had in their ownership one more building which was conceded to school, three hectares of land (inheritance from Luka Petrov), as well as a modest amount of money. In 1900, the church also had in its possession the parish session of 35 hectares of land on the territory of Nadalj. In 1906 the roof of the church was restored by putting up the eternit-plates. The same year the gilt of the apple and the cross at the top of the church was done. Soon afterwards the Balkan wars started, and after them the World War I, so the restoration of the church was left for some better days. However, since the means had already been gathered, a house was bought and tired down, and on its place The House of St. Save was built (1913-1916). During the World War I, when Austro-Hungary started suffering defeats on the battlefields, the bells from many churches in Vojvodina were taken down and remolded into canons. From the church in Nadalj three bells were taken down, and one was left. After the war, when the conditions were right, the decision was made to renovate the church. Although there was a common wish to engage the academic painter Jovan Kešanski, born in Nadalj, in painting the iconostasis, The Eparchy Board of Directors made the decision that the bidding has to be established and the painting of the iconostasis should be given to the painter who offers the best conditions. The people from Nadalj did not know much about arts, but they did not have any doubts in the choice of the painter. At the emergency assembly of the Church Municipality, one more time an unanimous decision was made that the painting of the iconostasis has to be done by „our son Bata Kešanski“, or the making of iconostasis would be given up completely! Rector Vojislav Kovačević and the chairman of the Church Municipality Milan Rakić delegated to explain this kind of decision to the Eparchy Board of Directors. After a long strain, the making of iconostasis was given to Jovan Kešanski, with the obligation to thoroughly study the paintings in Congregational Church and the Chapel in the Patriarch’s Palace in Sremski Karlovci, and to make the paintings in Nadalj in accordance to these standards. The reconstruction together with the making of the iconostasis lasted for the whole two years (1924-1926). During this time the services were held in the House of St. Sava. In June 1925, on the church in Nadalj all four bells, which still stand there, were put up and sanctified. After the World War II the experts of the Regional Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Vojvodina visited Nadalj several times and recorded the valuables. Regarding the church, the description of the iconostasis was given and some old books were recorded by the place and the year of their publishing:

–             Psalter, St. Petersburg, 1783
–              Meneon (general), Moscow, 1796
–              The Official, Buda, 1825
–              The Official, Belgrade, 1838
–              Bequest Breviary, Moscow, 1848
–              Psalter (the big one), Moscow, 1848
–              The Official, Vienna, 1854
–              Pentikostar, Vienna, 1885
–              Apostle (the big one), Kiev, 1881
–             Lazar Rakić „Nadalj“, 1988