Temple of the Presentation of the Most Holy Mother of God
Spiritual Center of Inđija
The church in Inđija is dedicated to the Presentation of the Most Holy Mother of God (Crkva Vavedenja Presvete Bogorodice). According to the legend, the Presentation of the Mother of God represents the entry of Mary into the temple, because as a three-year-old girl she swore eternal virginity. The vow to God was given by her parents Joseph and Anna, who in their later years begged God for offspring. This holiday is especially respected by women who cannot have children and mothers who ask for Mother of God’s protection for their children.
It is a baroque building with a richly decorated façade. It was built in the spirit of medieval tradition, i.e. the Raška School of Architecture.
The interior of the church was painted at the end of the 19th century by Jovan Štajner, a painter from Sombor, who gilded the carvings of the iconostasis and restored the icons. The iconostasis by an unknown author shows Baroque and sometimes Rococo forms: the throne icons are separated by pillars ending in capitals with twisted twigs of oak leaves, vines with grapes and roses. The iconostasis and the icon on the metropolitan throne were painted by an unknown painter from the 18th century, but in 1858 the iconostasis was cleaned and restored, and the icons on the metropolitan table were painted in 1923. The wall frescoes and vaults were painted by the academic painter Nikodim Brkić in 1954.
Conservation and restoration works were carried out on the church in 1979, when two rooms for lighting candles were erected next to the bell tower, and the iconostasis was conserved from 1980 to 1986.