Description:
The Monastery of St. Nicholas is situated on an elevation above the confluence of the rivers Banjska and Toplica, the place from which the whole small town of Kuršumlija can be best seen from the other side of the Toplica. The church was built in three stages. The oldest part of the church was erected by Stefan Nemanja, who dedicated it to his own son Sava. It was a single-nave church with the three-part sanctuary space, the dome in the middle and one smaller-size room on the southern side, which was intended for the ktetor to be buried there. Along the western side of the church, during the rule of Stefan the First-Crowned (13th century), the external narthex with the two high-rising towers and the cambered porch in-between them were added, likely on the occasion of the establishment of the Episcopate of Toplica, with the seat in this monastery. In the eastern tower, there is the tomb that was intended for the other ktetor. During King Milutin’s rule (the 14th century), the chapel on the northern side was added. The Monastery of St. Nicholas, one of the oldest monuments of the monumental mediaeval architecture of the Serbs, is the prototype of a series of monuments built in the style of the School of Ras. The church was painted, but only the traces of the frescoes of the 14th century have been preserved. The other constructions inside the monastery compound were pulled down. Only the central part of the church edifice with the damaged domes and one tower have remained. This is the first monastery during the rule of the Nemanjić Dynasty in which the scribing activity was organized, with the written Typicon (the rule of ministering) and in which Sava Nemanjić gave a blessing to the first believer after the Serbian Orthodox Church had become autocephalous in 1120. The remaining part of the church was roofed and protected in 1910. The works on the unearthing, protection and arrangement of the monument were being performed from 1948 to 2003, with interruptions. Today, the Church is almost wholly reconstructed and awaiting works on the arrangement of the monastery compound.