Lelić Monastery, Orthodox monastery in Valjevo, Serbia

Lelić Monastery is an Orthodox monastery near Valjevo with a cross-shaped church and central dome. The building uses stone, brick, and tufa, and contains a chapel plus a museum dedicated to Bishop Nikolaj.

Dragomir Velimirović, father of Bishop Nikolaj, built the church in 1929; it was consecrated to Saint Nicholas. On 12 May 1996, during a liturgy attended by 6,000 believers and Patriarch Pavle, it was proclaimed a monastery and became a metochion of Kaona Monastery. Nikolaj's relics had been transferred from Libertyville, Illinois, on 12 May 1992.

The frescoes follow a program conceived by Bishop Nikolaj, with unusual drawings carrying his theological interpretations; the Last Judgment dominates the other biblical scenes. The iconostasis dates from the same period as the church. An icon-painting and wood-carving workshop is active at the monastery.

The monastery lies in the village of Lelić, about 11 km from Valjevo. The church stands within a walled courtyard with a bell tower and a church house in front of it; the museum and workshops are inside the complex. Visitors enter the grounds on foot through the gate in the low brick and stone wall.

The relics of Bishop Nikolaj were transferred on 12 May 1992 from Saint Sava Monastery in Libertyville, Illinois, to the Lelić church. The same day marked 40 years since his death and five years since the relics left America; 6,000 believers attended the liturgy in the monastery courtyard, served by Patriarch Pavle.