Ostrog Monastery

Kiran had heard that the sacred saint of this monastery performs miracles, and had wished for rain. And there it was: clouds in the sky and a forecast of scattered thunderstorms. We were grateful for the cloud cover as we rode up the many switchbacks up to Ostrog monastery.

The upper church is an incredible feat of construction, and no doubt, abject devotion. The church was not built against a massive vertical rock face as much as built into it. The inner rooms walls were the hollows in the big rock. I cannot understand how this was built. And then rebuilt in 1926 after the fire.

This is one of the most significant pilgrimage destinations for eastern Orthodox Christians. The crowd of people waiting in line was clearly more devotees than tourists. We single stepped in the line until we got to the inner sanctum that housed the remains of Saint Basel. In this dark inner cave just big enough for 3 persons, stood a priest in full robes of black and gold holding an ornate cross. We kissed the cross, mustered a devoted face at the sarcophagus, and admired the inlaid mosaic artwork. The devotion and ardor of the prayers was palpable, and "it was cool to experience history" as Kiran said. We got a souvenir of the saint for his collection of religious artifacts.Leggi altro