Southwestern Serbia is the home of two of the most beautiful, best preserved Orthodox monasteries in the Balkans. On April 29, 2026, we drove through the mountains to visit remote Studenica and Sopocani monasteries. We then drove on to Novi Pasar for the night. Novi Pasar is a majority Muslim town in majority Orthodox Serbia. During the Balkan Wars of the 1980s and 1990s, that was a combustible combination, but all seemed peaceful when we visited.
We passed charming villages and churches as we climbed farther and higher into the mountains.
Studenica is a UNESCO Heritage site founded in 1196 by the founder of the Serbian empire and future saint, Stefan Nemanja. It is renowned for its 13th and 14th century Byzantine frescoes. One of the causes of strife throughout the Balkans is that there were so many different empires at different periods in history, and each former empire wants back all the land it controlled at its most expansive point! For instance, the Serbian empire once covered most of the Balkans, but so did the Macedonian empire and Albanian empire, at different points in time.
Studenica now has a huge monastery complex, with buildings from different ages.
Most Serbian words were incomprehensible to us, particularly in Cyrillic script, but we could figure out what this sign meant!
We weren't allowed to take photos of the frescos inside the monastery chapel, but I found these photos online. It is amazing that they survived from the 13th and 14th centuries, although some have been restored.
I bought copies of some of the frescoes to use as decorations when I have a Balkans dinner.
Sopocani was another monastery with a wall and beautiful frescoes. Even though the monasteries were remote, the Turks ravaged them, even sheltering their horses in the chapels.
These photos of frescos from Sopocani are also from the internet.
Although I couldn't take photos inside the chapel, the porches also had unique crosses, portions of frescos, and Greek symbols.
As soon as we entered the Old Town of Novi Pasar, we felt that we were back in the Middle East, where we spent last January. There were murals praising the Palestinians, women in abiyas, shops selling modest wear for Muslim women and intricate gold necklaces, halal butchers, bakeries with syrup-laced Middle Eastern pastries, and the other emblems of Muslim life. Much of that culture was remnants of the many years of Ottoman rule.
Our local guide showed us around the Altun-Alem Mosque, built in the mid-16th century and still used today.
Novi Pasar had a modern side, as well as its Old Town, and an attractive river running through the center of town.
Some buildings even extended over the river!
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