Бела Црква Каранска

Architecture

Drawing of the temple foundation: M. Kašanin, 1928.

The White Church of Karan is a modestly sized single-nave building, with a dome and three bays, 12.35 m long (without apse), 6 m wide, and 6.1 m high (i.e. including the dome 9.7 m high), with a semi-circular apse on the east. It is vaulted by a semi-circular vault and surmounted by a dome with circular drum. During XIX century the church got a spacious narthex to the west, 8.1 m long. An average thickness of the church walls is 0.8 m. The church is built of stone and mortar, without bricks in the oldest part of the building. Vaults and arches are made of decorative stone. The exterior is simple, without embellishments, plastered and coloured white.

Virtual tour of the Blago Fund, is available here:https://www.blagofund.org/Archives/Karan/Church/VR/

At the beginning of the 20th century, the western external wall of the church was decorated with two memorial plaques with reliefs, inscriptions and a fresco, which was later removed. On one memorial plaque at the top are carved reliefs in the form of a medallion with the face of King Peter the First Liberator in profile and the text: “The municipality of Karan 1912-1918 to its heroes”, while on the other there is an image of a Serbian armorer and the text: “For the memory and glory of 1912- 1928 for pride and respect”. Listed below are the names of warriors who laid down their lives for the freedom of the Motherland in the wars of 1912-1918. years. The reliefs and memorial plaques are the work of painter Mihailo Milovanović.

Inside the church a masonry iconostasis (altar screen), adorned by frescoes on both sides, was preserved between the second pair of pilasters, before the altar apse. The altar screen wall is 0.75 m thick and is 3.1 m high. Both south and north walls of the altar apse contain a small, deep niche.
Templon of the White Church of Karan
photo: Marko Stamatović
The white church of Karanska, view from the northwest
photo: Marko Stamatović