THE MEMORIAL OF JELENA LAZAREVIC IN HERZEGOVINA

Abstract

This paper presents a medieval church which was found by accident and unearthed in Cernica in Gacko. It was unknown to historiography and the general public. Namely, its construction and existence was saved via tradition, which in this case proved to be correct. According to the tradition, the church endower was Jelena, daughter of Lazar Hrebljanovic, who married Sandalj Hranic, the Duke of Hum and Bosnia. It was her second marriage. A few medieval monuments – stećci were found in front of the unearthed church. On one of them, there was an inscription saying that Nikola Raskovic, the Drobnjak prince, was burried there.

The unearthed church and the inscription on the stećak are testimonies which confirm findings of the former explorations concerning the century-old existence of the Serbs and Orthodox belief not only on the area of Cernica but also on the area of the the medieval Hum.