Trstenik - Culture

GALLERY

Culture in the area around Trstenik takes form in ethnographic importance, as customs of the past are kept alive in the weaving and embroidery of traditional rugs and peasant folk costumes. Of note are the long embroidered socks worn at folk performances and festive occasions by men who take the name čarapani, or ‘sock people.’ The nuns at the sisterhood of the Ljubostinja Monastery remain active in the production of these crafts.

Ljubostinja Monastery

On the left bank of the river Ljubostinja, 12 km from Vrnjačka Banja and 4 km north of Trstenik lies the Ljubostinja Monastery, built in the 14th century as the legacy of Princess Milica, wife of  King Lazar. Princess Milica (who took the name Jevgenija upon becoming a nun) and Serbia’s the first poet Jefimija (before becoming a nun her name was Jelena, a widow of Despot Uglješa Mrnjavčević) are buried in the churchyard. Both were admitted to the monastic order after the battle of Kosovo. The church was built around 1385.

Veluće Monastery

Set in the hills near the Srebrenica River and the village of Veluće, the prized 14th century Veluće Monastery is 7 km south of the main road Pojate-Kraljevo. It is dedicated to the Entrance of the Holy Mother of God and is one of the earliest monasteries from the Moravska School of architecture. A well-kept yard at the church resembles a botanical garden and a nearby spring, the Mivela, provides mineral water high in magnesium.

The House of Katić

In the municipality of Trstenik there are many old buildings that have witnessed Serbia’s past. Most of the old buildings date back to the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. The oldest preserved building is the house of a respectable tradesman and minister, Petar Katić, built in the second half of the 19th century. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful houses of Moravska Serbia and is under state protection.