St. Elijah's Church, Eastern Orthodox church in Podujeva, Kosovo
St. Elijah's Church, also called Saint Andrew's, is a Serbian Orthodox single-nave building of 19.90 by 9.50 metres on Merdžez hill above Podujeva, in Kosovo. It has a lower five-sided apse to the east, a rectangular nave, a small western narthex and a six-sided dome over the nave. It is built of brick, plastered and whitewashed, with a cast terrazzo floor and galvanised sheet roofing.
The church was built in 1929 or 1930 on Merdžez hill with funds raised by parish priest Branislav Košutić and his parishioners, and consecrated on 6 June 1935. In 1941 Balli Kombëtar shelled it and destroyed the dome; Serbian residents restored it, finishing in 1971. It was burned in 1999 and destroyed on 18 March 2004, when the bell tower was blown up with explosives.
The church belongs to the Eparchy of Raška and Prizren and is dedicated to Saint Andrew the First-Called, though locals also call it after Saint Elijah. It was consecrated on 6 June 1935 as "the first church in Podujevo after Kosovo". Its bell, given by King Alexander I Karađorđević in 1932, is now kept at Gračanica Monastery.
The church stands on Merdžez hill above Podujeva, reached by a short climb; the walled churchyard and Orthodox cemetery lie within the same complex. The building is a single-nave structure of brick, 19.90 by 9.50 metres, with the apse at the east end and the entrance, up four steps, on the west.
A bell gifted by Yugoslav King Alexander I in 1932 was stolen during periods of unrest but was later recovered by Czech KFOR soldiers. The bell represents the complicated journey this place has undergone and its restoration after years of disruption.
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