6 Things to do Good for a Rainy Day in Trebinje That You Shouldn't Miss

Reviewed By tihomirkosic - Kotor, Montenegro

Monastery Tvrdos is dedicated to the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos and was built upon the stone formations of Tvrdos along the right side of the banks of the Trebisnjica River, four kilometers west of Trebinje. Referring to Tvrdos, our historians considered it sufficient to say that it is a monastery dating back to the “Middle Ages” and that it is famous as a monastery in Trebinje. However, according to legend which is a fact relatively recently documented, Monastery Tvrdos was founded by the Czar, Saint Constantine, and his mother Saint Helen. Further after it was destroyed and abandoned, it became the endowment of the Serbian King Milutin at the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century. A thorough restoration in 1509 was made by Metropolitan Visiarion I of Trebinje. The monastery was for two centuries, if not more, the see of Hum-Herzegovina, the then-known Metropolitanate of Trebinje. During the Turkish-Venetian War, the Venetians in 1694 the entire church and the entire monastery blown up by explosives as was decpicted by the Herzegovian Vladimir Corovic, who was responsible for, among other things, the historical description of most Herzegovian monasteries. The church was only then restored by the new endower, Nikola Runjevac, the wealthy Trebinian from America at that time the smaller old konak was repaired and a newer and larger konak was built. A great awakening and the intense renovation of the monastery was experienced from 1955 which still continues until the present day. Upon the destruction of Monastery Tvrdos at the end of the 14th century, many priceless spiritual and precious cultural items from Tvrdos were transferred to Monastery Savina near Herceg Novi. The lifeblood of this monastery was continued not only in Savina, but more so in the nearby Metoch-Monastery Duzi. In October of 1992 the holy hand of an unknown saint was brought from Duzi to Tvrdos. It was most probably that of the Saint Helen, the Queen mother of Milutin and Dragutin (as it used to be present in the monastery according to the record in the journal of the monasteries of Trebinje which is currently found in Savina. Presently, Monastery Tvrdos with the iguman Sava (Miric) and his monastic brotherhood strive, with the help of our God and of good-willed people, to revive this sanctuary of the Most Holy Theotokos of Tvrdos even more.