Category: Religious

a, Religious, SlovakiaLeave a comment

Wooden Churches in Eastern Slovakia

Rich McClear

This is from a letter written in October 1998: Eastern Slovakia is an area crossed in trade and fought over by Tartars, Lithuanians, Poles, Hungarians, Germans, Russians and Slovaks.  It’s where cultures meet.  Kosice boasts the eastern-most gothic cathedral in Europe, and while it is VERY gothic, the clock tower has a very un-gothic gilded dome.  This region is a borderland, a krajina in Slavic languages.  We drove “along the borderland,” U krajina, the origin of the name Ukraine, which sits just a few kilometers to the east. More than a dozen wooden churches, built between the fifteen and seventeen … Continue reading Wooden Churches in Eastern Slovakia

a, Montenegro, ReligiousLeave a comment

Plevja, Mosques and Monasteries.

Rich McClear

Plevja is in Northern Montenegro where Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro meet.  It is a multi ethnic area that saw a large influx of refugees during the Bosnian war.  It is part of the Sanzak region which was part of the Ottoman empire, administered by Austria, and when Austria withdrew Serbia and Montenegro split the district.  The “Holy Trinity” Monastery is just outside town.  The Mosque is typical of the Balkans.  The clock tower is a hold over from Ottoman times.  The Ottomans put up clock towers in most of their towns. Continue reading Plevja, Mosques and Monasteries.