The Monastery of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God is located in the village of Donja Bišnja, 5 kilometers far from Derventa. It is placed in the valley of the River Bišnja, on the property of Đekić family, not far away from the local road Derventa- Kalenderovci.

The monastery is an endowment of Ratko Đekić from Donja Bišnja, who lives and works in USA. The monastery complex consists of the Monastery church of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God, the chapel of Nikolaj Žički, a two-storey guest house, an old house with a museum collection and an orchard, while an economic building is still in the process of construction.

The construction of the monastery church took place from 2002 to 2006, when it was consecrated. The church is a cruciform building, with a central dome and a belfry.

The monastery church has been decorated in Byzantine style, in “seco” technique with acrylic paints. The church has been painted in 2010 by Danijel Bilić from Zvornik and his team. An oak iconostasis was made in 2006 by Aleksandar Ninković from Modriča, while the icons on the iconostasis were made by Petar Bilić from Belgrade.  

              The two-storey guest house had been under the construction since 2002 until 2006, while the consecration took place in 2004. The economic building is still in the process of construction, although the works have started in 2012.

The old Đekić family house was restored and expanded in 2007, and it hosts a museum collection which comprises of huge amount of ethnographic and historical exhibits of Derventa area, as well as the photos portraying the monastery development, and the photos of the Đekić family.

The cross shaped Chapel of Nikolaj Žički has been constructed in the period from 2012 to 2013, and it is an endowment of Blagoje Simić from Derventa.

The Monastery orchard counts approximately 1.800 seedlings, mainly of apple and pear trees. Since 2010 the monastery has a distillery for brandy production where pear, plum, apple and quince brandy, as well as cherry liqueur, are produced. Monastery brandies and liqueurs have received numerous Certificates of Quality on agricultural fairs.

The Monastery brotherhood has been formed in 2006, while since 2016 it consists of the Abbot of the Monastery Archimandrite Simeon (Obrenović) and Hieromonk Avakum (Stjepanović). Since the establishment of the brotherhood in Donja Bišnja until 2014 monk Nektraije (Tešić) resided in the Monastery.

Contact details:

Address: Monastery of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God, Donja Bišnja bb, 74 400 Derventa

Contact person: Protosynkellos Simeon (Obrenović)

Phone: 00 387 (0)65 920 028

e-mail: simobisnja@gmail.com

Website: www.namjesnistvoderventsko.org/index.php/2013-07-11-15-34-21/manastir-bisnja