On July 26, the Draganac Monastery celebrated its temple glory. Eight years before the Battle of Kosovo, more precisely in 1381, Draganac is first mentioned in the Ravanica Charter of Prince Lazar.
The exact year of construction of the church is not known, but what is known is that the Serbian prince Lazar built this shrine in memory of his prematurely deceased daughter Dragana, who was only 16 years old when she passed away.
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Prince Lazar erects the main monastery church dedicated to the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and the Serbian Orthodox Church marks the Assembly of the Holy Archangel Gabriel on July 26, when Draganac celebrates the glory of the temple.
Spiritual headquarters for more than 30,000 Serbs
Today, this monastery is a spiritual center for about 30,000 Serbs who live in this part of Kosmet, a cathedral and a place of consolation for all whose souls are looking for a living Orthodox faith, as a way to salvation.
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Kosovo is mostly flat, where you can rarely find real shade, especially in the area of Gjilan. It is a landscape of wheat fields, from which wheat was recently harvested.
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But when you go from there to Novo Brdo, a few kilometers on the right, with a slight elevation, the road to Draganac separates, a place that will give you the love, security and comfort that only a parent can. The road leading to Draganca leads through an oak forest, from which you can see nothing but a piece of the sky and clouds on it.
A real refreshment after the Gjilan plain and the temperature on the warmest day of the year, which is called Gorešnjak here, which is another name among the people for the holiday dedicated to the Council of the Holy Archangel Gabriel. After two kilometers, you arrive at the port of the church and the boarding house in it, tucked away, or as they say here, “tucked” between the hills.
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A safe haven, which exudes love, peace and invites all who long for it to “escape” to the port of this shrine. The liturgy on the occasion of the monastery’s celebration gathered not only Serbs from this area,
but also from all over Kosmet, other parts of Serbia, monks, KFOR soldiers and guests from abroad.
The head of the monastery is a famous Belgrade actor and rock musician
The head of the monastery and fraternity of about a dozen monks and novices is Father IIarion, a former actor, whose secular name is Rastko Lupulović. At the age of 22, he received one of the most prestigious theater awards, the “Sterija Award” for his role in the play “Under the Deck”, and later the “Zoran Radmilović” award. He played Milančeta in the series “Open Doors”.
He is known for his roles in the films “It Will Be Better”, as Boban and “Package Arrangement”, as Darko Popović. In the rock band “Kanda, Kodza and Nebojsa”, Rastko played the electric guitar.
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A particularly indelible mark in this shrine was left by the abbot Grigorije, a Russian who lived in this area, constantly expecting the resurrection, the victory of Russia and Orthodoxy. Until the sixties of the last century, only one monk survived in the monastery. It is actually Grigorije’s father, who fled from Russia from the communist terror to Kosovo and Metohija.
When he passed away, the monastery was empty until the 1990s, when, with the work and efforts of the monks of the Decani monastery, it came to life again, linking Serbs from this region to staying and surviving.
Not far from the birthplace of Prince Lazar
Very little is known about Draganc in the period preceding its restoration in 1863 by the local Serb population from the vicinity of Gjilan. Not far from there, a few kilometers from the village of the same name Draganac, is the medieval town of Prilepac and the village of Prilepnica, the birthplace of Prince Lazar. Only ten kilometers north of Draganc is Novo Brdo, once the largest mining center in the Balkans and the economic center of the Nemanjic state, which at that time had about 45,000 inhabitants and was a real trading colony.
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What makes Draganac special is that Albanians also respect him, saying only words of praise for his monasticism. Unfortunately, there was also a breaking of the sign showing the turn towards the monastery by some other Albanians.
According to a special recipe, the local monks make the widely known incense, which somehow smells different from all you have had the opportunity to see, summing up all the most beautiful shades of pine and flower aromas.
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Draganac Monastery with the whole environment, a place that spreads hope for life, not only earthly, but also eternal, is the impression that is carried when leaving here. 
Photo: ST
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