Sokolica Monastery

The Sokolica Monastery is located in the village of Boletin, on the territory of the municipality of Zvečan, in Kosovo. It belongs to the Eparchy of Raška and Prizren of the Serbian Orthodox Church. As a whole, it represents an immovable cultural asset as a cultural monument of exceptional importance.^[1]

Sokolica Monastery
Манастир Соколица

Monastery information
Full name	Манастир - Соколица
Order	Serbian Orthodox
Established	14th century
Dedicated to	Assumption of Mary
People
Founder(s)	leader Musa
Site
Location	Boletin
Coordinates	42.9272°N 20.8627°E / 42.9272; 20.8627
Public access	Yes

History

The monastery was most likely built at the beginning of the 14th century by the leader Musa, lord of Zvečan and son-in-law of Prince Lazar. The monastery was built on a hill in whose forests, for centuries, falcons built their nests. Hence its name - Sokolovo brdo, and the monastery Sokolica. In the Middle Ages, hunting without falcons was unthinkable, and tradition says that every householder here, for his lord, had to breed as many falcons as he had sons.^[2] During World War II, the Sokolica Monastery was looted by Albanians.^[3]

Architecture

The monastery church is a building of small dimensions, with a spacious narthex added later, and a bell tower was built between the two wars. It is built of skillfully worked stone, with a shallow apse, vaulted in a semi-circular shape. On the facades, especially the northern one, there are primitive drawings of people and animals, as well as old records. A severely damaged painting from the period of Turkish rule has preserved several representations: Christ Pantokrator in the vault, Assumption of the Virgin Mary on the western wall, Adoration of the archbishop in the apse. On the south wall are visible fragments of figures dressed in lay clothes, which are thought to represent the founders. Three old and valuable books are kept in the church: the Russian Psalter from the 17th century, "Zavomaje ogledalo" in Bulgarian from 1816, and the Prayer Book from 1838. The restoration and conservation of the architecture was carried out in 1995/96. The new inn was built in the eighties of this century.^[4]