No. LV (2024)
Articles

The Landscape of the Monastic Endeavour: The Choices of St Sava of Serbia

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  • Danica Popović
Danica Popović
"Institute for Balkan Studies, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia retired
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2298/BALC2455099P

Published 26.12.2024

Keywords

  • St Sava of Serbia,
  • Karyes kellion,
  • Studenica hermitage,
  • hermitages of Mileševa,
  • monastic desert,
  • landscape studies
    • ...More
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How to Cite

Popović, D. (2024). The Landscape of the Monastic Endeavour: The Choices of St Sava of Serbia . Balcanica - Annual of the Institute for Balkan Studies, (LV), 99–122. https://doi.org/10.2298/BALC2455099P

Copyright (c) 2024 Balcanica - Annual of the Institute for Balkan Studies

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This paper approaches the question of the selection of site intended for monastic ascetic pursuits taking the example of St Sava of Serbia. Sava’s choices were based on his masterful knowledge of Byzantine eremitic tradition and his own substantial monastic experience. This is evidenced by the hesychasteria he founded: he gave physical form to the concept of locus amoenus in the Karyes kellion of the monastery of Hilandar, while the concept of locus horridus was embodied in the cave hermitages of the monasteries of Studenica and Mileševa. The methodological framework of this research is informed by current landscape studies.
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