The first monastery we visited, Ravanica. It was built by Prince Lazar, who died at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. It was the anniversary of this battle, a religious holiday in Serbia (Vidovdan), and there was a special service at the monastery's church to mark it.
I was at first taken aback to see so many members of the Serbian military, but they seemed more intent on taking photos of the monastery with their cell phones and messaging them to friends than on noticing me (the only American in the place).
An elderly woman, who stood for the entirety of the service (two + hours).
The equivalent of a bishop (and someone else important in the Orthodox religious hierarchy); people were kissing medallions worn by each of them.
Inside the monastery church. The frescoes depict several ancient Roman saints; unusually, though, they are depicted wearing the costumes of Serbian soldiers. The crowd of people is lined up to venerate the glass encasing Lazar's coffin (lower left-hand corner), with his embalmed remains.
People venerating religious icons.
Souvenir/icon peddlers.
There were SO many soldiers at this monastery. Originally, these were not looking at me (it's possible that my friend commenting on how much she dislikes the military here made them turn around!).
At Manasija (the second monastery we visited); this building used to be a school where students learned to read and write scriptures. There was a nun at this monastery who was born and grew up in Dublin, Ireland.
Inside the monastery church (before one of the nuns ran up and yelled at several people in my group for taking photos, which happened before she learned that I was American and apologized profusely for yelling).
Manasija.
Ljubostina monastery (the last one we visited).
A statue of Prince Lazar in Krusevac (behind a church where the Serbian army supposedly stopped to pray on their march to Kosovo).
A Holstein-patterned(!) motorbike on the street of Krusevac.
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