1329–1389.

Lazar Hrebeljanović

Holy Prince and Great Martyr of Kosovo

Choosing the Heavenly Kingdom

Lazar Hrebeljanović was the ruler of Moravian Serbia and one of the most important figures in Serbian history. At a time when the Ottoman Empire was spreading relentlessly, Lazar worked to unite the Serbian nobility and to preserve the state and the faith.

His death in the Battle of Kosovo on Vidovdan in 1389, where he knowingly sacrificed the "earthly for the heavenly kingdom", became the foundation of Serbian national identity and covenant. Besides his affairs of state, he was also a great ktitor; he built Ravanica, Lazarica in Kruševac and supported many monasteries, including Hilandar and the Russian Monastery of Saint Panteleimon.

"The earthly is for a small kingdom, but the heavenly is forever and ever."

Holy relics

The body of Prince Lazar was buried in Priština and then, in 1391, transferred to his endowment Ravanica, when he was also canonised. For centuries his relics shared the fate of the Serbian people, moving before the conquerors, until today they finally rest again in Ravanica.