page_title: Visoki Dečani
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Visoki Dečani / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The fresco of king Stefan Dečanski with church model, Dečani, Serbia
context_page_description: Visoki Dečani, or simply Dečani, is a medieval Serbian Orthodox Christian monastery located near Deçan, Kosovo. It was founded in the first half of the 14th century by Stefan Dečanski, King of Serbia.
  The Visoki Dečani monastery is located by the Dečanska Bistrica river gorge at the foot of the Prokletije Mountains, in the region of Metohija. It is located about 2 kilometres from the town of Dečan. The monastery is managed by the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Raška and Prizren. The monastery has been under the legal protection of Serbia since 1947 with a designation of Cultural Monument of Exceptional Importance. The monastery is part of the World Heritage site named "Medieval Monuments in Kosovo".
context_section_description: Construction began during the reign of Serbian King Stefan Dečanski in 1327 and the original founding charter from 1330 has been preserved. Dečanski's son, Stefan Dušan, seized the Serbian throne in 1331 and had his father strangled to death in the Zvečan Fortress shortly afterwards. Dečanski was buried in the still incomplete Visoki Dečani monastery in 1331 and its construction was continued by Dušan. The monastery's main architect was the Franciscan friar Vito of Kotor. According to Branislav Pantelić, the monastery represents the last phase of the Western, Gothic, Byzantine-Romanuesque architecture and contains Byzantine paintings and numerous Romanseque sculptures, part of a "Palaeologan renaissance". 
  Construction of the monastery lasted for a total of 8 years, and ended in 1335. The wooden throne of the hegumen (monastery head) was finished at around this time, and the church interior was decorated. Dečanski's carved wooden sarcophagus was finished in 1340. Serbian princess and Bulgarian empress consort Ana-Neda (d. ca. 1350) was buried in the church.
caption: Stefan Dečanski, King of Serbia and founder of Visoki Dečani monastery
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