novo hopovo monastery

We are not that big fans of churches and monasteries but this one seemed very nice, freshly renewed, easy accessible, large parking, souvenir shop. If you manage to find some of the residents they might tell you some nice stories from history. Story about water that runs in the monastery which you can get for free if you have an empty bottle, they say it heals but even if it don't it's stone cold and very good taste. Nature around monastery is beautiful, you can put a blanket on the grass or just sit down and contemplate for a long time. Very nice place to visit.

As with Krusedol, worth a quick visit unless you are very religious and wish to spend more time there. No guides or information posted. Interesting frescoes, and less run down than Krusedol. Some religious souvenirs for purchase.

I saw this monastery in the evening, after sunset: the air was cold and pure and you could really smell the winter, the grass, the soil. The church was really dark, it took several minutes for our eyes to finally accustom to darkness, and we could finally see the beautiful and very old frescoes. Very nice experience. Down the same road, after Novo Hopovo, you can reach Staro Hopovo: it consist of a small church with a bell tower nearby, which we only saw from the outside due to the late hour. Take a look if you can, it has been recently restored.

Novo Hopovo (novo meaning "new") is a Serbian Orthodox Monastery located in Fruska Gora National Park south of Novi Sad in Vojvodina. The yellow monastery buildings with red roofs are accented by a bell tower that was completed in 1760. The yellow monastery buildings surround the real gem, the beautiful old St. Nicholas church, which was built in 1576 . The frescoes around the altar and nave were frescoed in 1608 and the narthex in 1654. The wood iconostasis was built in 1776. The monastery was founded between 1496 and 1502 on the site of a previous church built in the 10th century. The church and iconstasis were heavily damaged in World War II and the treasury and its objects looted. Reconstruction took some 30 years. We visited on a Sunday and enjoyed watching a portion of a christening service for young child. Staro Hopovo Monastery (staro meaning "old") is a short 2 km drive away from Novo Hopovo. It was built between 1496 and 1520. The original church, also dedicated to St. Nicholas, was ruined by an earthquake in 1751 and a new one of cut stone and brick with a ten-sided dome was built. It was dedicated to St. Panteleimon. When we visited we watched for some time while a priest did a confirmation service in his beautiful voice in this tiny church. The two churches are very different and well-worth the effort to see. We saw them as part of Tour 8 (Treasures of Vojvodina) with Snezana Bulatovic of Serbian Heritage Tours.

Novo Hopovo was one of two monasteries we visited on a day trip. We opted out of the organised tour of the monasteries in Fruska Gora since it cost £120 ($170 American Dollars) for the day. Instead we followed the unusual instructions from the Bradt guide to Serbia. 'Turn east into the woods from the beer garden, past the deserted hotel.... anti-clockwise around the fish pond...'The countryside and the monasteries are spectacular and well worth the visit. I would strongly recommend walking around the area, rather than being bused around. Farmers went about their business around Novo Hopovo; the walk from Staro Hopovo to Irig took us past orchards of ripe plums and fields of sunflowers; and we met a woodcutter who invited us for coffee at his house en route to Staro Hopovo. Novo Hopovo is a 16th century church, surrounded by a courtyard monastery of a slightly later date. The church contains fresco paintings of 'exceptional artistic value'. (http://www.yuheritage.com/novohopovo.htm). For pictures please see the above link.Staro Hopovo is only a 30 minute walk through the countryside and the church itself stands in a clearing of the woods. Very beautiful, very peaceful and no buses offloading visitors. There were a couple of casual young guys relaxing outside a wood cabin nearby. We later saw them enter the church in monastic robes as the bells began to ring.

При попытке найти монастырь заглючил навигатор, но быстро сориентировались по наличию указателей и массовом повороте автобусов и микроавтобусов вправо с трассы. Перед монастырем приличная автомобильная стоянка, территория огорожена. Замечательный внутренний дворик-дорожки, цветы, реконструкции под старину деревянных деталей. При входе в храм естественно мы осенили себя крестным знамением, и тут же с протестом не осквернять святое место к нам обратился на английском языке смотритель. Он принял нас сначала за католиков, перед нами в храм входили экскурсанты англичане и вели себя не очень корректно. Внутри прекрасная духовная атмосфера, созданная иконами и росписью. Впечатляет.

Главный храм монастыря освящен в честь Святого Николая. Фрески внутри храма были расписаны, предположительно, афонскими монахами. Внутри чувствуется разительный контракст между старым храмом в центре и новыми корпусами. При монастыре неплохой могазин - где я прикупил себе целебной крепкоалкогольной настойки, пробка которой была также залита церковным воском. От головной боли спасало потом еще не раз)))