Monastery of Kumanica

A church dedicated to Saint Archangel Michael, founded most probably in the 16th century. It presents a very honored cult holy site. It is mentioned in the 15th, and several times in the 16th and 17th centuries, when it used to be one of the cult and spiritual centers in the Central Polimlje region. It was abandoned most probably in the 18th century, when the remains of Saint Haralampije and Episcope Grigorije were removed from it. It is known in science for the Kumanica Gospel presented bythemonk Zaharije  in 1604. The manuscript is from the early 16th century. The illustrations in the four -book gos date back to the 15th and 16thcenturies and are of exceptional beauty.

Portraits of Evangelists, exceptional works of art of the 14th century are included in the newer manuscript which was decorated in the 16th century. Numerous frescoes in fragments can be traced to the 16th century, when the monastery evidently prospered, and at which point it was perhaps even reconstructed. Archeological findings indicate that the church did not burn, but caved in for reasons unknown to us. The church remained in such a condition until the beginning of the year 2000, when the Prijepolje Museum launched a project for its reconstruction, within which the church was fully restored  in 2001.

Kumanica is one of the few medieval monasteries which has been honored for centuries also by members of other religions, primarily Muslims, who, like Christian Orthodox Serbs, link it to the powers of healing that were indeed present here in the course of its long history.

The reconstructed Monastery of Kumanica can be reached by taking the main road from Prijepolje toward Bijelo Polje. It is located at the entrance into the Lim canyon, 300 m from a bridge that spans the river.