The Monastery of St. Prohor of Pčinja was founded by the Byzantine emperor Romanos IV Diogenes 950 years ago – in 1070, as a sign of gratitude to Saint Prohor who predicted that he would become the emperor, and the great restoration of the monastery was performed by King Milutin in 1320.Since then, until today, in the greatest shrine in the southeastern Balkans, the myrrh has been streaming from the relics of Saint Prohor of Pčinja.
During the centuries long slavery under the Turks, the monastery persevered and was the centre of literacy of the Serbian people as a spiritual and cultural centre of preservation of religious, national and cultural identity.In the first half of the 19th century, the monastery was the bearer of the liberation struggle from the Turks, so in 1843 it was burned down.In the second half of the 19th century, lodgings were built in the monastery – the pearls of folk architecture of the southeastern Balkans: Vranjski konak, Severni konak and the Metropolitanate.
On the eve of the Berlin Congress in 1878, a large National Assembly of representatives of the Serbian people from the area of Old Serbia – the southeastern Balkans was held in the monastery, urging Prince Milan Obrenović to “by no means let them remain as part of Turkey, but to join them to the Principality of Serbia…”
With the contribution of King Aleksandar Obrenović in 1899, a new church was built in the monastery, and the monastery got its present appearance in 1913, with the construction of the King's residence, built by King Petar I Karadjordjević the Liberator, as a sign of gratitude to the monastery for its contribution to the liberation of the Serbian people from Turkish slavery.
The monastery was destroyed in the First World War, when the Bulgarian occupiers killed the abbot of the monastery Vladimir (Protić) with the fraternity in 1915, and it also suffered in the Second World War from the same occupiers.During 2020, the monastery marks 950 years of the founding and 700 years of the great restoration.
Motifs: on the stamp – The Monastery of the Saint Prohor Pčinjski; on the vignette – Saint Prohor Pčinjski (fresco, 14th century); on the FDC – Saint Prohor Pčinjski (fresco, 14th century) and monastery with its surroundings.
Expert collaboration: Eparchy of Vranje of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Graphic realization of the issue: MA Nadežda Skočajić, graphic designer.
