Bođani Monastery

The monastery is located 15 km west of Bač, in the direction of the Danube. The complex consists of the church, residential quarters, and accompanying economic buildings. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times, and during Rákóczi’s Rebellion it was burned to the ground. The first monastery was built in 1478 by Bogdan, a merchant from Dalmatia, as an act of gratitude to the Virgin Mary for healing his diseased eyes. The present church was erected during the 17th century by a wealthy man - Mihajlo Temišvarlija, from Szeged, as the fourth church built on the same spot, dedicated to the Presentation of the Holy Mother of God. The large residential quarters and the church in Bođani were built in the Baroque style, and their frescoes were painted by the famous iconographer of that era, Kristofor Žefarović. The residential quarters once housed a rich and expertly curated Museum dedicated to this very artist, with numerous old engravings, oil paintings, church vessels, a printing press, and other rarities—which now await restoration. Numerous items brought from the Manasija Monastery are also preserved here, and the pride of the monastery is the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary of Bođani (one of only six canonized Orthodox icons in the world), believed to have miraculous healing powers, especially helping couples without children. From its founding in the 15th century until 1991, the monastery functioned as a male monastery. The monastery also owns several hectares of land covered with forest and orchards, as well as a courtyard with abundance of flowers and trees. Within the residential wing is a small chapel with a spring where, according to tradition, the monastery’s founder Bogdan—who suffered from eye disease—washed his face and was healed.