ДЕЈЛИ МЕЈЛ НА ОПЛЕНЦУ : ЛЕПОТА КРВАВЕ ИСТОРИЈЕ

Невероватна црква, живописни мозаици, бурна историја и још много тога за дивљење – епилог су недавног боравка у Србији познате британске новинарке Валери Синглтон.

“Скривена у шумама на Опленцу близу Тополе, сат и по јужно од Београда, Црква Светог Ђорђа одузима дах. Сваки педаљ огромног здања, маузолеја краљевске породице Карађорђевић која је Србијом владала од 1904, прекривен је изванредним и бриљантним живописним мозаицима, па посетилац не зна на коју страну прво да гледа”, написала је Синглтон у репортажи коју је почетком месеца објавио британски лист Дејли Мејл.  Синглтон пише да је у Београду боравила више пута. Добро је упозната са Кнез Михајловом и Калемегданом, ракијом и српским кафанама. Међутим, овога пута највећи утисак оставила је црква на Опленцу.

Наводећи детаље из српске историје, уз помињање недавног преношења посмртних остатака Петра ИИ Карађорђевића у породичну крипту Цркве Светог Ђорђа, Синглтон пише да је оригинални план краља Петра И био да се у зидове цркве угравирају имена свих жртава балканских ратова.

Međutim, kako je Prvi svetski rat potom odneo nebrojeno više života, od te ideje se odustalo, pa su unutrašnji zidovi crkve prekriveni kopijama fresaka iz drugih srpskih crkava koje čine jedinstven mozaik.  Šezdeset fresaka uz milione dodatnih ukrasa najrazličitijih boja sklopljeno je u veličanstven prizor, primećuje Singlton, dodajući da je svaki žuti delić koji se vidi na zidovima izrađen od čistog zlata.  “Postoji na stotine kompozicija sačinjenih od mermera, murano stakla i metala koji je dobijen topljenjem oružja iz Prvog svetskog rata. Uz to, očaravajući luster koji je u smešten u centar u sebi ima izvrnutu krunu, što predstavlja poraz Srbije na Kosovu 1389. godine”, piše ona.

Poseban utisak na nju je ostavila i poseta beloj kući pored crkve gde je Petar živeo dok je nadgledao njenu izgradnju, gde je zanemela pred austrougarskim telegramom poslatim Srbiji nakon atentata u Sarajevu.  “Neverovatan je osećaj gledati u nešto tako obično, a što je dovelo do Prvog svetskog rata”, zaključuje Singlton.

Извор: Б92

Valerie Singleton visits Serbia's 40 million mosaics that tell of a bloody history

I gasped in amazement as I entered St George's Church. Hidden away among the woods on Oplenac Hill near the town of Topola, an hour and a half south of Belgrade, it was breathtaking. Every bit of the huge building - a mausoleum for the Karadjordjevic royal family who had intermittently ruled Serbia from 1804 - was covered in such fantastic and brilliantly colourful mosaics, it was difficult to know where to look first. Breathtaking: Left, frescoes in the church of St George in Oplenac and, right, the church from the outside I had been in Belgrade for several days, enjoying the wide pedestrianised Knez Mihailova with its grand 19th Century buildings, shops and galleries. Once the main street in Roman times, it leads to the Kalemegdan Park and the vast fortress overlooking the junction of the Sava and Danube rivers. The fort has provided a splendidly defensive position for the different occupying forces over the centuries, and a great view.

I'd sampled some rakija, the famous fruit brandy, and had my morning fix in a kafana, a traditional old coffee house. And I'd been learning about Serbia's tortuous history - hence my visit to Topola. Valerie was wowed by Serbia's tumultuous history

King Petar I came to the throne in 1903, almost exactly 100 years after his grandfather, Karageorge Petrovic, or Black George, began an uprising for Serbian independence against the Turks. The uprising led to a century of power struggles but eventually Petar became king. Since Topola was where his grandfather had lived and ruled the brief Serbian state, Petar decided to build a church there. He died in 1921, and his son Alexander finished it. Originally, Petar intended to leave the interior white and engrave the walls with the names of the soldiers killed in the Balkan wars. But so many more Serbs died in the First World War that it was decided instead to copy the most outstanding frescos from medieval monasteries across the country and have them made into mosaics. Artists made copies of 60 of them and some 40million pieces were used to make the mosaics, using thousands of shades of colour. Everything yellow is real gold.

There are hundreds of compositions made from marble, Murano glass and melted-down metal from First World War artillery. And the magnificent chandelier in the centre has an upside-down crown inside, to symbolise Serbia's defeat at the battle of Kosovo in 1389.

Last week the body of Peter II, last king of Yugoslavia, who died in exile in America in 1970, was buried in the crypt here, after being repatriated. Near the church is the simple White House, where Petar lived while he supervised the building.

Извор: Дејли мејл