The exhibition of facsimiles of the two most important Serbian medieval manuscripts – the Miroslav Gospel and the Serbian Psalter – will open on Wednesday, April 3, at 7 p.m., in the NBS exhibition hall in Slavija (17 Nemanjina St.).

Three hundred leading experts worked on producing the facsimile of the Miroslav Gospel and designing the exhibition. In the past four years exhibitions were organised in Serbia, Montenegro, Republika Srpska, Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg) and EU member countries, where around 1,400,000 visitors learnt about the history of the manuscript. The Moscow exhibition was presented as an event of highest cultural significance. Since 2022, the facsimile of the Serbian Psalter has also been a part of the exhibition on the Miroslav Gospel. The Serbian Psalter was written and illuminated several years before the Battle of Kosovo and has been kept in the Bavarian State Library in Munich as one of its most valuable books.

In 2005, the Miroslav Gospel was inscribed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, which contains 120 manuscripts of the greatest value and significance for humankind. In the register nomination form, it is specified that this Serbian medieval manuscript dating from 1170 is one of the richest manuscripts of the kind and the most important representative of the style resulting from fusion of elements of the West (Italy) and the East (Byzantium). The Serbian Psalter (prayer book) dates from the late 14th century and, according to academician Vojislav Đurić, represents the most richly decorated Serbian medieval book.

Both facsimiles were bought by the largest world libraries and universities. During the exhibition in Gračanica, five copies of the Miroslav Gospel, donated by Serbian donors, were presented to monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija, while in 2017 and 2022 the Serbian President took the presidential oath upon this facsimile.

The rich history and content of these manuscripts will be brought closer to visitors by Veljko Topalović from the Association for Studying, Publishing and Presenting Serbian Medieval Manuscripts MJ MMF who is head of the project and leader of the international team of experts studying Serbian and European medieval manuscripts, and by monk Sava. In addition to the exhibition, visitors will also have the opportunity to see a documentary film on the history of the Miroslav Gospel entitled: “In the Beginning Was the Word” directed by Boško Savković, which won numerous awards at festivals worldwide.

In addition to representatives of the Association MJ MMF, the exhibition will be opened by pupils Lazar Rajić and Danilo Arnautović.

The exhibition will be open until  April 12 and can be visited from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. each business day. Group visits of primary and secondary school students will be organised from April 3 through April 5 and from April 8 through April 12 from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and need to be scheduled (tel.: 063 289 770/ 060 44 25 783).

Entrance is free.