Cathedral Of St John Vladimir, Bar, Montenegro

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The Cathedral Of St. John

Vladimir Bar

The magnificent Cathedral of St. John Vladimir whose construction began nearly 20 years ago, located in downtown, not far from the coast. It has an area of 1200 m² and height of 41 meters. Characteristics of the temple are that the frescoes painted 4,860 square meters, is made of marble iconostasis length of 18.5 m and is set floor mosaic of 550 m². On the central dome is painted Ascension while in the lower part the dome is painted the Madonna with the 12 apostles, four evangelists, which makes a total 600 m² of the frescoes. The temple was erected in honor of St. John Vladimir - the first Serbian saint and protector of Bar.There are three basic features of his thousand year old spiritual presence in this region: The remains of the monastery of the Preciste Bogorodice Krajinske in which they are relics of Holy King been up to 1215, Cross of Saint John Vladimir and legend of Vladimir and Kosara.

The legend of Vladimir and Kosara - The oldest and the most beautiful love story in Montenegrin history is related to Vladimir, the King of Duklja. During a war with the Bulgarian Emperor Samuel, he was imprisoned in the year 998 at the court in Prespa. The merciful Emperor’s daughter Kosara went to see the slaves in the cellar of the court every day and she fell in love with the beautiful man from Duklja who received bread and water from her. The Emperor’s daughter persuaded her father to allow her to marry the famous prisoner. King Vladimir, when back home, became very popular with the people and so Samuel’s heir, Emperor Vladislav decided to destroy him. He lured Vladimir to Prespa, sending him a wooden cross as a guarantee of his safety, and then he killed him. Because Vladimir’s cult started to spread, Vladislav allowed Kosara to transport Vladimir’s remains to Duklja. In the Precista Krajinska monastery on the lake of Skadar, Vladimir was buried with the wooden cross. Here, Kosara spent her remaining days as a nun under the name of Teodora and was buried next to her husband. The cult of the first saint from Duklja quickly spread to the neighboring lands - Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and beyond.

The cross of Saint Vladimir has been kept for centuries as the greatest relic of the Androvic fraternity. Each year, on Holy Trinity Day, it is carried to the top of Mt. Rumija, where, according to legend, there was a church dedicated to the Holy Trinity. After the church was destroyed, the cross was found in the remains. The procession which carries the cross respects custom that each member of the proce-ssion (Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim) should bring one stone with them, because they believe that the church will rebuild itself, once there are enough stones.