Updates
17. August 2026.
Bođani Monastery
Back in 2007, experts from the Provincial Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Petrovaradin, began research projects in Bođani, and since 2012, according to an established methodology, they have been working on the preservation and presentation of the wall paintings of this monastery, founded in the 15th century. With Sinisa Zekovic, a painter-conservator consultant, as the leader, the exceptional wall painting of the famous Hristofor Žefarović, the iconography by the Kiev painters Job Vasilievich and Vasily Romanovich and other significant icon painters, are regaining their former glory, while the architecture of the church dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin Mary and the monastery quarters are being taken care of by the architectural sector of the Institute. This year, conservation and restoration works continued, which include the structural consolidation of the fresco-plaster, fixing, cleaning and retouching of the painted layer of the first zone in the altar, choirs, the southern wall of the nave and the eastern arch above the iconostasis, as well as plastering in the socle zone in the interior of the temple. In addition to his colleague Zekovic, the expert team consists of Maja Velickovic, painter-conservator, Dragana Jelic, painter-conservator, Zorana Matkovic, conservator-restorer and Marija Erdelji, photographer of the painting. Simultaneously with the painting, work is underway on removing the plaster and preparing project-technical documentation, in order to prepare for the conservation-restoration work on the renovation of the facades of the monastery church, which is being carried out by Rastko Vlajkovic, architect-conservator, as project manager, and Aleksandra Pekez, senior conservator-technician. Photography: Maria Erdelji
