Endowment of King Petar I from 1912 stands in Oplenac: Cross restored, bells named after princes

Photo: RINA

The Church of St. George (Sv. Djordje) in Oplenac is a memorial church and mausoleum of the Karadjordjevic dynasty, which was built as his endowment by King Petar I Karadjordjevic. From 1912, when this shrine was completed, until today, the cross had never been removed from the church. Today, after a century, the cross has been completely restored.

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"The cross was now removed from the church for the first time since it was installed in 1912. It was in very bad shape because the copper coating was disintegrating, oxidation had occurred under its structure. After the cross was removed, it was sent for sandblasting and fresh coatings have been applied. Also, the apple of the cross, which was damaged in October 1944, has been repaired.

During the First World War the copper coverings were removed along with the bells to be melted down and used to manufacture ammunition that was then used to kill Serbian soldiers. After 1918, by 1921, the coverings were reapplied, the bells were cast that would later be named after Petar, Tomislav and Andrej - the children of King Aleksandar and Queen Marija," Dragan Reljic, manager of the King Petar I Karadjordjevic Endowment in Oplenac told the RINA agency.

According to him, the cross even survived a bombardment.

"The observation post that dominated this area was right here, there was a (German) anti-aircraft cannon here which, when noticed by Red Army soldiers coming from the direction of Smederevska Palanka, was fired upon, so out of the seven fired, five shells hit the church. The cross withstood that without sustaining major damage, and was partially reconstructed in 1996, the gilding was done, but it had never been completely removed from the central dome," Reljic explained.

In addition to this cross, a cover was created earlier on the facade and the roof of the church, while the cross on the northern dome has now been repaired, too.

The work on the reconstruction of the cross was carried out in cooperation with the Institute for Protection of Monuments and also involved the company Stara Varos from Topola.

(Telegraf.rs)