Summary

With the establishment of the Žiča Archdiocese in 1219 begins the period when the country of Serbs becomes an internationally renowned actor, and joins the family of Christian, European nations. The founder of the dynasty, the great prefect of Raška, Stefan Nemanja - monk Simeon, and his sons, Stefan and Sava gave the largest contribution to the creation of timeless values and a rich heritage of the Serbian people. And so, even until our times, the history of the Žiča monastery, its Archdiocese and the Diocese deserves great attention and interest. To display this priceless precious historical period, you should always keep in mind thinking and proper interpretation of historical events, which are always needed to avoid the real risk of minimizing or exaggerating the importance of the Archdiocese of Žiča.

It was created at a time of historic turmoil in the turbulent area of the Balkan Peninsula, where there have been both newly constituted and disappearing countries since 1204, Archbishopric of Žiča was the result of the extraordinary organizational capabilities of Nemanja’s sons, King Stefan and Archbishop Sava. The division into eleven dioceses, the ordination of bishops and establishing the borders of diocesan land property were all achieved in a relatively short period of time. The conflict of Latin and Greek states (sparked after the Fourth Crusade), conquering aspirations of Hungary and Bulgaria to the young country of the Nemanjić family, and in short - the growing gap between the Latin West and the Greek East, set a difficult task for Stefan and Sava. Their political maturity and statesmanship wisdom founded the autocephalous churches and respectable state organization.

Similar to the constitution of the Parliament of England (1265) and the Assembly of the Estates in France (1302), the convocation in Žiča monastery (1221) established a church-state institution of the highest rank. The first seat of the Serbian Archbishopric, during the time of Archbishop Sava I and Archbishop Arsenije I, was the place of the great Councils which the highest church and state representatives managed responsibly. The period of Sava’s archrpiesthood left a distinct mark, because that is when the monastery shone in the full beauty of a harmonious architectural whole and had the status of the central place of asceticism of the archbishop’s students and a nursery of capable bishops. Up until the gradual move of the seat of the archbishopric to the south, to the then monastery in Pec appendage, Žiča was the center of the Church, the center of the state and the center of an individual diocese.

The extension of the archbishops’ land property in all parts of the country with many parishes, villages, mountains, forts and squares leads to the conclusion that the First Hierarch of Serbia was a person of the highest authority and that their rulers honored them with especially strong trust. In place of Archbishops, and later patriarchs, of Žiča, the ones selected most often were the monks of Hilandar and experienced bishops, with exceptional capacity for organization and high spiritual values. Serbian rulers respected the decision of the Episcopal Church bishops, and the best example is the decision of the Parliament in 1317, when the title of Archbishop went to Nikodim instead of Danilo, who was the candidate of King Milutin.

Since the second half of the 14th century, Žiča slowly begins gaining back in importance as the Bishop's seat. The time of Despot Đurađ Branković was the first time that the "Patriarchy in Žiča" was cited, and due to the fall of the Serbian Despotate under Ottoman rule, the oldest church headquarters vanishes into a three century long historical void. The only trace of a temporary restoration of the monastic life is in the Turkish census of Smederevo Sanjak, year 1572. This is the first time that that the monastery of Žiča is mentioned in a Turkish defter in addition to the villages of the former  land property of Žiča (Ratina, Zaklopača, Ribnica, Gornja Vrba, Donja Vrba, Zamčani, Konarevo). A Turkish census dating from 1540 claims that the village Žiča belongs to the county of Požega, while a census dating from 1572 states that the monastery of Žiča of the village Kruševice belongs to the county of Požega. Ten years before the Turkish census, in 1562, the bishop of Smederevo - Zaharije found the monastery deserted and constructed monastic cells on the spot. At the time of the renewal of the Patriarchate of Peć, The Monastery of Žiča was inhabited with monks once again, who were most likely the same people who founded the Fruška Gora monastery Šišatovac.

From this time, up until the 19th century and the restoration of the monastery, which started in circa 1856, started by the Bishop Joanikije Nešković, the Žiča monastery was abandoned and unfairly fell into oblivion. This is why this paper has come to be; because we are trying to revive the past and rebuild the image of the never-ending value of the eternal "Serbian Story".