Vučić met with Pendarovski PHOTO/VIDEO

Vučić met with Pendarovski PHOTO/VIDEO

Vučić and Pendarovski decided to visit the monastery first, and then hold a meeting.

Vučić stated that the reconstruction of the monastery was done.

Pendarovski laid a wreath at the memorial fountain in the gate of the monastery.

Ministers Nikola Selaković and Bratislav Gašić also attended the reception of the delegation from North Macedonia.

President Vučić was met by a large number of citizens, with whom he spoke. Citizens presented their local problems related to roads and water. They handed letters to Vučić. The two presidents will hold a joint meeting at 12:30 p.m., after which their address will follow.

History of the monastery

The Monastery of Venerable Prohor of Pčinja has a history longer than nine and a half centuries, and it is also important as a cultural and educational center of the region.

Among other things, the first session of ASNOM - the Anti-Fascist Assembly of the People's Liberation of Macedonia, was held in this monastery on August 2, 1944, which is considered the place where the modern Macedonian state was formed, which today celebrates its National Day.

The monastery is located 30 kilometers south of Vranje, and in mid-2021 it marked 950 years of existence and seven centuries since the death of King Milutin, who restored it in the 14th century.

It is located on the wooded slopes of the Kozjak mountain, on the left bank of the Pčinja river, in the village of Starac. As part of the monastery, there is a theological school, a copyist-illuminator workshop, and the craft of icon painting is taught in an organized manner.

According to legend, it was built in the 11th century, i.e. in 1070, by the Byzantine emperor Roman Diogenes as a sign of gratitude to Saint Prohor of Pčinja, the "Peaceful One", who prophesied to him that he would become emperor.

It has been part of the Serbian state since Stefan Nemanja conquered the area of Vranje in the wars with Byzantium between 1180 and 1190.

The arrival of the Ottoman Empire in Serbia ends the period of prosperity for the monastery, which was also a strong spiritual and cultural center of the medieval Serbian state.

According to some sources, prince Lazar Hrebeljanović built an outer porch in front of Milutin's church, just like in Hilandar, and tradition says that the prince, on his way to Kosovo Polje, also gave communion to the army there.