Monday, October 26, 2009

Touring Decani

After the Liturgy, Bishop Teodosije took us on a tour of the monastery. At the bookstore, they sell their own wine, cheese, and (in photo above) carved wooden crosses. Some of the crosses are carved by Serbs from Kosovo in order to support themselves. They're beautiful, but a bit out of my price range. A wooden pectoral cross was 300 euro, and a blessing cross 600.

The next stop on the tour was their cheese-making area. Above is a room in which the milk is processed, and below you can see some cheese being stored.

And here's where the cheese comes from. Above, the cows, and below the goats.

The final stop was the iconography studio. Above, Bishop Maxim (himself an accomplished iconographer) tries out the work station. Below, one of the icons being worked on.

We then went for a delicious lunch with the monks and pilgrims in the refectory. Serbians, even monks, spare nothing for visitors!

It was raining on and off for most of the day. Here Bishop Maxim is in front of the monastery's main church, before we headed out to Djakovica.

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