Church of St. Nicholas, Prizren


The Church of St. Nicholas, also known as Tutić Church is an Orthodox church located in Prizren in Kosovo. It was founded in 1331-1332 by Dragoslav Tutić, whose monastic name was Nikola, and his wife Bela. Later, the church became a possession of the Visoki Dečani Monastery. Since 1990, it has been on Serbia's list of Monuments of Culture of Exceptional Importance. At the time of the 2004 unrest in Kosovo, the church was vandalized. Since 2005, with financial support from the European Union, work has been undertaken to restore the church to its original state.

Architecture

The church of St. Nicholas is a small stone and brick single-nave church, with a central octagonal dome, reconstructed at the end of the 1970s. The altar apse is semicircular, with semicircular niches for diaconicon and proskomedia. The builder's inscription is only partially preserved but 19th century manuscripts indicate that the church was built in 1331-1332.

Frescoes

The frescoes in the church are preserved to a degree and are assumed to have been introduced immediately after the church's construction. Based on their style, theme and layout, they are thought to have been painted by the group of painters behind the oldest painting in St. Saviour Church, Prizren and the frescoes in the church of St. George in Rečani near Suva Reka, destroyed in mid-1999.