The Gornjak Monastery, located at the entrance to Gornjak gorge, is the endowment of Prince Lazarus from the year 1378. Prince Lazarus appointed the monk Grigorije Sinait as the administrator. The monastery complex encompasses the church dedicated to the introduction of the Most Holy Mother of God (a Serbian orthodox holiday) and the hermitage of Grigorije Sinait in the rock. The church has a concise triconch base. Its external narthex and the bell tower were built in the 19th century. The hermitage of Grigorije with a small church dedicated to Saint Nicholas is located northeast of the church. After the Turks conquered the entire country in 1459, the monastery experienced great destruction. Only after the Požarevac peace treaty which was signed in 1718, the monastery was renewed. However, it suffered another destruction from the Turks soon after, namely in 1788. More than 50 years later, in 1845, the monastery was once again renewed. During WWII, the monastery suffered the most severe destruction when it was burned down by the German occupiers. Many valuables from the monastery were destroyed then. Some of them are the charter of Prince Lazarus, the flag of Tsar Dušan, etc. After the monastery was liberated from the occupiers, it was renovated and extended. Except for lying on the old bases, the nowadays Gornjak Monastery only slightly resembles the old minster. The special value of this monastery is the picturesqueness of the interior walls with masterpieces of woodcarving and frescoes from the 17th and 18th centuries. This is a characteristic of only a few other monasteries in Serbia. As part of this valuable cultural and historical monument of Homolje, there is a modern guest house. Traditionally, a manifestation called “A Night in Gornjak” is held every year in the churchyard of the monastery in memory of our famous painter and poet Đura Jakšić who regularly visited this monastery. The monastery is surrounded by a vivid nature and the blessings of the Mlava River.
