The old story says that the monastery was built by a man called Bogdan, a merchant from Dalmatia, whose vision got blurred on his back from Buda, where he was on business. On the place where the monastery is found today, he came across a spring, and as he was washing his face, he healed and his vision returned. On that occasion he made a vow to Virgin Mary, to show his gratitude, on that spot he would build a church dedicated to her. After getting the permission, Bogdan built the church in 1478. This is how the monastery “Bođani“was established, dedicated to The Presentation of Virgin Mary. The monastery was demolished and burnt several times. The first time it was ruined was in 1565, under the overrun of Turks. In 1578 the second church was built, this time it was made of wood; however it was destroyed as well. The third church was built in 1678. During The Mutiny of Rakocije, this church was burnt as well. In 1722 the new church was built together with monastery cells. The Monastery “Bođani” with its cells, within which there is also a museum, is rich with paintings, icons, frescos, ancient engravings, scripts, service dishes, etc. A great artistic value has the engraved iconostasis made between 1745 and 1748. The monastery is exceptionally important because of the frescos made by Hristifor Žefarovič, who painted the inside of the church, and who is the bearer of the Serbian modern Baroque painting. A tourist attraction of this monastery is the spring (so called The Faucet of Bogdan), as well as an incredible park with a couple of hundreds of sorts of trees and other plants.
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