Serbo-Byzantine architecture

The Gračanica monastery near Priština, an example of the Serbo-Byzantine Style (UNESCO World Heritage Site)

The Serbo-Byzantine architectural style or Vardar architectural school (or "style"), is an ecclesiastical architectural style that flourished in the Serbian Late Middle Ages (ca. 1300–1389), during the reign of the Nemanjić dynasty. It was developed through fusing contemporary Byzantine architecture and the Raška architectural school to form a new style; by the mid-14th century the Serbian state had expanded to include southern Macedonia, Epirus and Thessaly up to the Aegean Sea. On these new territories Serbian art was even more influenced by the Byzantine art tradition. A typical Serbo-Byzantine church has a rectangular foundation, with a major dome in the center with smaller domes around the center one. Usually Serbo-Byzantine buildings are decorated with frescoes that depict biblical stories.

It is one of the widespread traditional architectural styles of the Serbian Orthodox Church, alongside the earlier Raška architectural school and later Morava architectural school.

Examples

• Our Lady of Ljeviš, built in 1306–9
• Studenica Church
• Gračanica monastery
• Monastery of the Patriarchate of Peć
• Lesnovo monastery
• Monastery of St. George's Tracts (Đurđevi stupovi), built by Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja (r. 1166–1196)