Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina

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The Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina (Serbian Cyrillic: Епархија захумско-херцеговачка) is a bishopric of the Serb Orthodox Church with its seat in Mostar, temporarily transferred to the Tvrdoš monastery near Trebinje, Republika Srpska,Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina was originally founded in 1219, by Saint Sava, the very same year the Serbian Orthodox Church acquired its autocephaly from Constantinople. Thus, it was one of the original Serb Orthodox bishoprics.

The original seat of the Diocese of Hum, as it was called in 1219, was in Ston, in the church of the Most Holy Theotokos (Пресвете Богородице). The first bishop of Hum was Ilarion, succeeded by Sava II (son of Stefan Prvovencani), Jovan, Danilo and Stefan. The church in Ston was taken over by the Roman Catholic Church in the 15th century after the region was included in the fiercely Roman Catholic Ragusan Republic, and has since remained Catholic.

When Hum was taken over by the Bosnian ban in the 14th century, the see of the eparchy was moved to the Monastery of Mileševo. In the 15th century, it became the Diocese of Herzegovina, in line with the regions new name given to it by its ruler, the Herceg of Saint Sava, Stjepan Vukčić Kosača. Apparently, it was a Bishop of Hercegovina that crowned King Tvrtko I in Mileševo in 1377 as King of Serbs and all of Bosnia and Hum.

Following the fall of Herzegovina under Turkish rule, the See was frequently moved, finally to settle in Monastery Tvrdoš near Trebinje. Following that final move, the following Bishops of the Diocese of Zahum-Hercegovina are known: Jovan (1508–1513) and Visarion, restorers of Monastery Tvrdoš (1508); then Marko (1524), Maksim (1532), Nikanor (1546), Antonije (1570), Savatije (1573–1585), Visarion (1592), Silvestar (1602) and Leontije (1605–1611).

Eventually, the Diocese was split with the Diocese of Mileševo breaking off.

[edit] External links

• Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina (in Serbian)