SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST. FATHER NIKOLAI’S TRANSFERRED RELICS

The Martonos settlement was first mentioned in written documents in the mid-14th century. During the Turkish domination of these parts, the settlement was recorded in defenses in 1554. In the period following the departure of the Turks, Martonos became a military borderier settlement within the Threshold Military Frontier. Since 1774, it has been inhabited by Hungarians. During the Rakocio riot from 1703-1711. In the year 1848 and in the year of rebellion, the settlement was very bad. These data on the suffering of settlements in the bins are important for the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church and changes in the building itself.
According to the tradition, the church in Martonos has been in existence since 1600 and is dedicated to the Feast of the Holy Mass of St. Nicholas. The wreath of wrought iron raised above the apse is clearly legible in 1762, which probably marks the year of completion of the church’s restoration after the rebellion of 1711. The church was rebuilt again in 1848, when the inventory was burned, archive material, and most probably iconostasis. The rebuilding of the church building began in 1852 with the considerable material support of the emperors of Francis Joseph and Patriarch of Russia. In the following years minor repairs are made and the church is equipped with bells, furniture, wrinkles and books.
The church is a one-nave building, smaller dimensions with an elongated boat. The central grass is slightly broader, which points to the architectural conception of the Serbian Baroque in the organization of space. The apse is a pronounced triangular look, with a smaller one-fold baroque belfry, inside the interior reinforced with stronger pilasters, among which are longitudinally and transversally provided ports that carry spherical vaults. Light, as an essential component of Orthodox Baroque temples, flows through the holes on the facades of the naos. The side facades are flat, with no peripheral plastic that does not appear in the western part. Facade facade is accentuated by shallow profiled pilasters with flat capitals that extend and the height of the bell tower on the floor. At the age of the temple, the inner plastics of the nails are also pointed out with pointed pilasters, between which are the longitudinal ports that carry spherical vaults.
Olivera Milanović-Jović points to the special acoustics of the absidian part which includes the possibility of the existence of a crypt or the foundation walls of an older church. This thesis is supported by Dr Dere Kornel, who states that during the repair in the apseid part around 1970, two layers of the wall were established. The inner wall is more than 1m thick, and it is made of bricks with weeds, referring to the construction of the XIV and XV century, while the outer part of the wall of the church is about 60 cm thick and has a newer origin.
The documentary material preserved in the church gives information that wall painting is made by at least two authors. The agreement between Pecic and the Committee, in addition to the iconostasis, included the “blood of the blood” in the proskomidia, two singing icons, on the vault of the “Victim of Death” with four Evangelists, the making of the entire altar and the marble of the vault to the Vladina Throne.
Scene above the solea with Sv. by the trio and by the Jews, the artistic solution is very close to Pecic’s works on the iconostasis, and could be considered his work.
A record of a meeting of the church committee on April 11, 1871 mentions that it was negotiated with Žiga Polak, a segregated lively writer who submitted drafts to the Committee. The polacks of the offer and the draft were accepted, however, it is not clear whether the offer included also the mapping of the work on the solo, which was painted a few years earlier by Đura Pecić. All wall paintings are done with oil technology.
In the book of the minutes of the church-school committee and the assembly of 1852-1874. preserved in the church, there is an agreement on the making of iconostasis-duborez and possibly gilded, with the pancreatic master Henrik Niken and Franc Zimanj, made on January 18, 1855. Testing on the icon of St. The trinity, painted with oil on canvas, showed that the icon was mapped. During the removal of paintings, the signature of the painter Pavel Čortanovačko was found. In the cleaning of the painted part of the cross with Raspeć, the signature of the painter Zivko Petrović was discovered. The cutting of the iconostasis was completed in 1875, when the work on the gilding began. The central icon of the iconostasis was commissioned and paid by the Chairman of the Committee. As it can be seen from the minutes, the councilors heard about Pavel Chortanovacki and appreciated him. The other icons on the iconostasis were painted by Djura Pecic, who painted the icons of St. Simona and St. Cara David.The Icon of the Resurrection from the holiday zone shows several layers of hands. Authorship of prestigious icons, attributed to Aksentia Marodic, has been questioned by researching archival material.
On the Virgin’s throne there is an icon of the Virgin with Christ, the work of an unknown master from the XIX century. On the wooden partition, which separates the armor from the naos, there are oval icons of St. Simeon (south side) and sv. Cara David, (north side).
The ribbon of the iconostasis was made in combination with the late baroque-rocky plant forms and classicist elements. Duborez is coated with bronze, but sounding in the zone of top icons and honeycomb has found that under the bronze layer there is a well-preserved layer of golden gown made with real gold. The cladding of the iconostasis is tape and painted by the imitation of the marble. During 1992 and 1993, the paintwork and the coinage of the iconostasis were purified from later coatings, missing parts were cut out in linden tree and lined. Damages of the gilt and substrates were whitened and a retouched gloves were made.
The Serbian Orthodox Church in Martonos with its antiquities, architectural and stylistic values ​​that are read out from the foundation of the church, as well as the values ​​in the church itself, has an undeniable importance as a cultural monument.