Lepavina Monastery, Serbian Orthodox monastery in Sokolovac, Croatia.
Lepavina Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastic complex near Sokolovac in northern Croatia, made up of a Baroque church and residential buildings set within a garden. The whole site sits in a rural setting a short distance from Koprivnica, forming a self-contained religious community.
The monastery was founded around 1550 by a monk from the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos and was destroyed by Ottoman forces in 1557. It was rebuilt in 1598, which marked a new chapter in the site's religious life.
The monastery holds a 16th-century icon of the Mother of God, brought from Crete and Venice, which remains a focus of veneration for pilgrims today. On major Orthodox feast days, worshippers gather here in large numbers, giving the site a feeling of active religious life.
The monastery is best reached by car from Koprivnica, and it is worth confirming your visit in advance since it is an active religious community. Visitors should dress modestly and behave quietly out of respect for the monks and any ongoing services.
After the nearby Marcha Monastery passed to the Greek Catholics, Lepavina became the main Orthodox center for the whole of northern Croatia, a role it still holds today. This shift happened without the monastery moving or changing, simply because the religious landscape around it changed.
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