THE CHURCH OF HOLY EPIPHANY – Srbobran

THE CHURCH OF HOLY EPIPHANY – Srbobran

The Temple of the Holy Epiphany in Srbobran was built in the second half of the XVIII century. At that time the people of Srbobran achieved strong national, cultural and economical prosperity. That made possible for the Serbian orthodox-church community to build a new temple. After the extensive preparations, the construction started in 1787. Because of the massiveness of the construction and because of difficulties that followed the construction of the magnificent temple, the works with some disruptions lasted for two decades. The church was built on an exalted part of the settlement, where previously the graveyard was situated. The nave of the church is 38, 30 meters long and 12, 30 meters wide. The two bell towers are 68 meters high. The bedrock was 3 to 4 meters deep. Serbian Orthodox Church in Srbobran is one of the biggest and most beautiful temples in our country. It represents an exceptional architectural solution. Similar temples to this one are those in Pančevo, Timisoara and Buda. Although some of the smaller construction works hadn’t been finished, in 1807 it was sanctified from patriot reasons. This was the time of a great patriot struggle of Serbian people for freedom and the time of significant victories of rebels of Karađorđe. In these events Serbian people in Vojvodina anticipated the fulfillment of their long-lasting hopes to unite with their brothers south from Sava and Danube. It is considered that this prominent church is a symbol of patriotism: the two bell towers represent the people from both sides of the rivers Sava and Danube, and the big nave represents its unity and greatness. During the violent and tragic 1848 and 1849, the settlement was burnt, razed and robbed by Hungarian military force. Serbian Orthodox Church was ruined by cannon shells: the towers were destroyed, the belfries and the nave were demolished, the roof was burnt and the bells were broken. After the fall of Srbobran (Sentomas) on 3rd April 1849 the iconostasis of the church was also destroyed, and the church was robbed and demolished. After the unfortunate 1849, the refugees from Srbobran started coming back to their deserted homes overgrown with weeds only in 1851. Although they were devastated and poor, the refugees got down to the reconstruction and reparation of their homes and fitting out the church for services. One of the most prominent Serbian iconographers of the 19th century, Novak Radonjić, from Mol by origin, painted the iconostasis, consisted of 36 icons, inside the Church of Holy Epiphany, as well as the wall icon of the Holy Trinity with the Four Evangelists on the ceiling above the Soleil. The woodcut in the Serbian Orthodox Church of Holy Epiphany was done by Georgije Dević, one of the best woodcarver of those times, from 1859 to 1863. Thanks to its artistic value the iconostasis has been recorded in the register of protected cultural monuments under the number 217 (rescript number 1552, Belgrade, 20th December 1950). Since the Serbian Orthodox Church in Srbobran is dedicated to the Epiphany, in the first part scenes from the life of St. John were presented (“Christening” and “The Convocation of St John), including the usual icons of Virgin Mary, Christ and St Nikola. On the ceiling above the Soleil the icon of St Trinity was painted, together with the Evangelists… Together with the woodcarver Georgije Dević, Novak Radonjić made an extremely beautiful and sumptuous altar septum, with the small declination from the usual way of making it. In the couple of icons, especially in the prophet icon “The Sacrifice of Ilija”, Radonjić introduced some elements of the Romantic period, based on the Baroque epoch. In May 1869, new church bells were ordered for the Temple of Holy Epiphany in Srbobran. The bells were lifted to the right bell tower on St Peter’s Day in June 1870. Their sound could be heard so far. Because of that the famous verse appeared: “Ring the bells of Srbobran, so that Bačka echoes.” These bells, the pride of Srbobran, were used all up to 1917. That year the Hungarian military authorities ordered the bells to be taken down and taken to Vienna where they were poured into cannons. The windows in the Serbian Orthodox Church of Holy Epiphany were decorated by the images of saints. The decorations were done by a glass painter Milan Stanišić from Sombor, in 1938. After the end of the World War I, The Serbian Orthodox Church Municipality bought the new church bells. They were put up on the bell tower, but they were about to be destroyed two more times. Without any reason Serbian Orthodox Church of Holy Epiphany was bombarded in April 1941, by grenades of the Hungarian fascist occupational military. Both towers and the roof of the church were severely damaged. The windows with the pictures of the saints were also damaged by the bullets from machineguns. The church was robbed and desecrated by the occupier, so it was closed. Church services were held in the reading room of the parish center. The damage that had been done was being eliminated after the liberation, in accordance with modest possibilities of the church, all up to 1955. The damaged saint paintings on the windows were reconstructed and fixed by Stevan Stanišić from Sombor, in 1958. Because of its huge cultural–historical value, Serbian Orthodox Church of Holy Epiphany in Srbobran was written in under the number 345 in the register of the monuments under protection (Rescript no. 444, Novi Sad, 5th June 1962). In 1985, the reconstruction and the embellishment of the church started. The reconstruction of the roof covering the nave and of the tin covers of the towers was done. New gutters were put. The shutters on the windows of the bell tower were fixed, as well as the church clocks, in which the new mechanism on electrical power was implanted. The west side of the church and the bell towers were painted. Suddenly, an accident happened. On 10th September 1987, during the late afternoon, inside this important cultural-historical monument fire appeared. The fire was spreading very quickly, swallowing all the dry wooden construction of the roof and the towers. People stood with sorrow, disbelief and tears in their eyes and watched the tragedy of their famous church. Thanks to the strong construction of the nave, which held the weight of the burning roof construction and the falling girders, the fire did not destroy everything. It did not reach the inside of the church. This is how the iconostasis, the most precious artifact of the church, was saved from the fire together with some other valuables. The destroyed parts of the church were renovated in the following years, 1987-1991, by the donations of patriots and believers. First, the roof of the nave was fixed the most urgently, so that the inside of the church would be protected from the atmospheric sediments. The towers of the church were rebuilt and sanctified in the churchyard. The church was donated the church clocks enlightened by electrical lights. On the outside walls of the Church of Holy Epiphany tombstones were built in, the tombstones of the prominent people of Srbobran from the 18th century, with the inscriptions in Church Slavonic language. On the left side next to the west entrance, there is a big plate made of black marble with the inscription which says: “People of Srbobran, who were killed, disappeared or died in the World War 1914-1918”. The list of 181 names follows.

Zmaj Jovina 13, Srbobran (Srpska Pravoslavna Crkvena opština Srbobran)
+381 (0)21 731 720 (Srpska Pravoslavna Crkvena opština Srbobran)

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