My OperaMan with moustache II
Sunday, December 11, 2011 7:41:01 PM
So, here I am again after two months of delaying to write a post about my visit to a grape harvesting festival in Oplenac 
I actually wasn't even visiting MyOpera for more than a month as I was really busy with my exams, but now I have some pause between them so here I am. Anyway, I've visited this festival with my father, we've bought some wine, visited some historical places that are mostly connected with our Royal House of Karađorđević and wine There we've visited a museum in which we could see some pictures from the time of Balkan wars, some army uniforms, etc. But what has left the strongest impression on me and my father too was a St. George′s Church also known as Oplenac Mausoleum as there are tombs of more than twenty members of Karađorđević family including Karađorđe's (Man with moustache I ) who was the founder of this royal family.
In the main part of the church there are sarcophagus of Karađorđe and King Petar I who built this church and mausoleum. It is built on a hill and on one side of the hill there are royal family vineyards ( that's probably the best location in Šumadija for a vineyard ). This is how they look now:
So, I've started talking about church and mausoleum. From the outside it looks just like some regular church in Serbia, nothing special but when you enter, after you pay your ticket (yes, you have to pay for entering inside this church ), you become amazed of the richness that surround you... I have some really bad pictures of it, my battery was almost dead and I didn't have time to make better settings, but I think these lines I've found on Wikipedia will give you impression on how much attention they've payed to details. All four façades were made from white marble, on the main façade there is a mosaic icon of St. George that has been made in Venice according to the plan of the known Serbian artist, Paja Jovanović on the basis of a golden mosaic which symbolizes the victory of the Serbian people over its enemies.The floor of the church was made in Munich, out of polished marble, in various colours. Lifted on a small podium, the throne for the King and Queen is made of polished green marble, its back is decorated with golden mosaic and mother-of-pearl, in the middle is the two-headed eagle. The arm-rest is made of marble from Dečani, while the entire seat rests on sculpted lions. The huge chandelier, 9 meters in diameter, is underneath the main dome, hanging in 8 places, above the pendent, was molted out of massive bronze. In the chandelier is a Crown set upside-down that's symbolizing the lost Serbian Empire in Kosovo battle in 1389. Interior of the temple is decorated with mosaics which are reproductions of the prettiest frescoes of the Serbian medieval arts. The entire mosaic has 725 painted compositions on which there are 1500 figures and it has 40 million various colored pieces of glass which have 15 thousand different varieties of color. Also, according to some lady we've met there gold on these icons is 14 karats gold...Anyway, everything looks really amazing
These are some pictures I've managed to take, not that good but can pass I guess. This is inside the church:
And this is inside the mausoleum, actually this is only ceiling of this mausoleum, my battery couldn't handle any more pictures:
After this we took a little walk through Oplenac, I've got a lollipop We also visited some other museum with pictures about First Serbian Uprising , we saw some sculptures of Karađorđe and King Petar I. This is King Petar I:
He's my man with moustache II, and after visiting this two museums I've realized how Serbia was stronger or maybe just prouder while in our governments there were only men with moustaches and beards If in our government weren't men with moustaches but those that make our government today we would probably let Austria-Hungarian police enter our country and make their own investigation on our territory, maybe there wouldn't be any war then but there probably wouldn't exist independent Serbia too. But they've made mistakes too, like creating Kingdom of Yugoslavia and similar...
Anyway, I had some really nice time with my father that day, I think how this is the first time after many years that my father viewed some city by his feet (probably because it was not allowed to enter the city center with a car)
I actually wasn't even visiting MyOpera for more than a month as I was really busy with my exams, but now I have some pause between them so here I am. Anyway, I've visited this festival with my father, we've bought some wine, visited some historical places that are mostly connected with our Royal House of Karađorđević and wine There we've visited a museum in which we could see some pictures from the time of Balkan wars, some army uniforms, etc. But what has left the strongest impression on me and my father too was a St. George′s Church also known as Oplenac Mausoleum as there are tombs of more than twenty members of Karađorđević family including Karađorđe's (Man with moustache I ) who was the founder of this royal family.In the main part of the church there are sarcophagus of Karađorđe and King Petar I who built this church and mausoleum. It is built on a hill and on one side of the hill there are royal family vineyards ( that's probably the best location in Šumadija for a vineyard ). This is how they look now:
So, I've started talking about church and mausoleum. From the outside it looks just like some regular church in Serbia, nothing special but when you enter, after you pay your ticket (yes, you have to pay for entering inside this church
), you become amazed of the richness that surround you... I have some really bad pictures of it, my battery was almost dead and I didn't have time to make better settings, but I think these lines I've found on Wikipedia will give you impression on how much attention they've payed to details. All four façades were made from white marble, on the main façade there is a mosaic icon of St. George that has been made in Venice according to the plan of the known Serbian artist, Paja Jovanović on the basis of a golden mosaic which symbolizes the victory of the Serbian people over its enemies.The floor of the church was made in Munich, out of polished marble, in various colours. Lifted on a small podium, the throne for the King and Queen is made of polished green marble, its back is decorated with golden mosaic and mother-of-pearl, in the middle is the two-headed eagle. The arm-rest is made of marble from Dečani, while the entire seat rests on sculpted lions. The huge chandelier, 9 meters in diameter, is underneath the main dome, hanging in 8 places, above the pendent, was molted out of massive bronze. In the chandelier is a Crown set upside-down that's symbolizing the lost Serbian Empire in Kosovo battle in 1389. Interior of the temple is decorated with mosaics which are reproductions of the prettiest frescoes of the Serbian medieval arts. The entire mosaic has 725 painted compositions on which there are 1500 figures and it has 40 million various colored pieces of glass which have 15 thousand different varieties of color. Also, according to some lady we've met there gold on these icons is 14 karats gold...Anyway, everything looks really amazing These are some pictures I've managed to take, not that good but can pass I guess. This is inside the church:
And this is inside the mausoleum, actually this is only ceiling of this mausoleum, my battery couldn't handle any more pictures:
After this we took a little walk through Oplenac, I've got a lollipop
We also visited some other museum with pictures about First Serbian Uprising , we saw some sculptures of Karađorđe and King Petar I. This is King Petar I: He's my man with moustache II, and after visiting this two museums I've realized how Serbia was stronger or maybe just prouder while in our governments there were only men with moustaches and beards If in our government weren't men with moustaches but those that make our government today we would probably let Austria-Hungarian police enter our country and make their own investigation on our territory, maybe there wouldn't be any war then but there probably wouldn't exist independent Serbia too. But they've made mistakes too, like creating Kingdom of Yugoslavia and similar...Anyway, I had some really nice time with my father that day, I think how this is the first time after many years that my father viewed some city by his feet (probably because it was not allowed to enter the city center with a car)
(15%)
