The Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Đurđevića Tara (popularly known as the Aranđelovac Monastery) is located on the right bank of the Tara River, in the immediate vicinity of the famous big bridge on Tara, in the territory of the municipality of Pljevlja.
Here are key historical, architectural and spiritual facts about this temple:
Origin and founders: According to preserved inscriptions and folklore, the church originates from the 14th century (around 1390). It was built during the era of Nemanjić/Grebjanović, and historical sources mention that the founder was a local nobleman or lord of that region.
Architecture: The temple is a single-nave building of modest dimensions with a semicircular apse and a characteristic dome. It is built of properly hewn stone in the spirit of the medieval Serbian sacral architecture of Potarje.
Copying center and education: During the 16th and 17th centuries, the church functioned as a monastery and was an important center of literacy in Potarje. There was a copyist's workshop where liturgical books were duplicated (the Psalter copied in this monastery in 1592 has been preserved).
Turbulent history and demolitions: Due to its strategic position in the Tara canyon and its role in preserving national consciousness, the monastery was repeatedly burned and ravaged by the Ottomans, most severely in the 18th and 19th centuries, after which it lay in ruins for many years.
Reconstruction in the 20th and 21st centuries: The fundamental reconstruction of the temple began in the 1990s, and was completed and consecrated in the early 2000s by the efforts of the Diocese of Milesevo and the believing people of Pljevlja and Žabljak.
Administrative status: The church belongs to the Eparchy of Milesevska (since it is located on the territory of the municipality of Pljevlja) and represents one of the most beautiful spiritual and cultural-historical features of the entire Tara canyon.
The temple's feast day is Arandjelovdan (November 21), and the church is extremely visited during the summer months by tourists who visit the Tara bridge and the canyon.
