Bijela, Benedictine Monastery of St. Margaret
10 July 2018
During the European Year of Cultural Heritage, the results of archaeological research of the former Benedictine monastery of St. Margaret in Bijela will be presented. The remains of the monastery are a rare example of a Benedictine community in Medieval Slavonia. The research conducted on the site will help further the knowledge on religious complexes, and its conservation and presentation will enrich the cultural landscape of Western Papuk.
Supervisor: Andrej Janeš
The remains of the Benedictine monastery of St. Margaret are located on a raised oval plateau above the Brzica stream, 1 km south of Bijela village and 4 km northeast of Sirač. The plateau is protected by a deep trench on all sides except on the eastern one, where the terrain plunges towards the Brzica stream.
Since 2012, Croatian Conservation Institute has been conducting archaeological research of the Benedictine monastery, in use from the 13th to the 16th century. On the north side, the monastery is defined by the church with the cloister on the south side. To the south of the church and to the east of the cloister is the monastery wing with the sacristy and the chapter house. The south side of the cloister is defined by the southern wing of the monastery. The entire monastery was surrounded by a defensive wall. It is assumed that there was a series of structures between the monastery and the wall. Along with archaeological excavations, conservation is being carried out to present the monastery to the general public.
The results of the archaeological research will be presented at the exhibition “Benedictines and the Creation of European Culture”, organized by the Bjelovar branch of Matica hrvatska.
