Church of St. George, Serbian Orthodox church in Kneževo, Croatia
The Church of St. George in Kneževo is a Serbian Orthodox church built in 1929 in the Byzantine Revival style, designed as a large chapel for King Alexander I's royal summer residence. Its interior holds two carved walnut-wood thrones, one for the king and one for the queen.
Kneževo was first recorded in 1214 as Lak; by 1905 the village had about 600 inhabitants, 185 of them Orthodox. After World War I the area passed to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes under the Karađorđević dynasty. King Alexander I commissioned the church in 1929 as part of his royal summer residence, built in Byzantine Revival style as a large chapel rather than a parish church. Closed after World War II, it was returned to the Serbian Orthodox Church in the mid-1970s, when Ivan Bens repainted the iconostasis; restoration began in 2019.
The church is dedicated to St. George, whom local Baranja Orthodox Christians also call Sveti Đurađ; his feast day on 6 May is known as Đurđevo and is the krsna slava of many residents. On 29 November 2019 the parish celebrated the Vow Day of Saint Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist together with the church's 90th anniversary.
The church stands in the historical core of Kneževo, a village near Beli Manastir, alongside the Kneževo park and the former Belje administrative building. It belongs to the Popovac parish of the Eparchy of Osječko polje and Baranja. Visits are best arranged around parish services; the building is a consecrated Serbian Orthodox church, so modest dress and quiet conduct apply.
The church holds two carved walnut-wood thrones, one for King Alexander I and one for Queen Maria, a feature tied to its origin as a royal summer-residence chapel rather than a parish church. It is the only Karađorđević endowment in this part of Croatia.
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