Miroslav Gospel

Culture and history

Breaking News for July

Miroslav Gospel in UNESCO's Memory of the World
Monday July 4, 2005, Belgrade Metropolitan

Miroslavljevo Jevandjelje (The Miroslav Gospel), a manuscript dating from around 1180 has been inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. At a meeting in Lijiang, China, from June 13 to June 16, the 14-member International Advisory Committee of UNESCO's Memory
of the World Program initiated the inscription of 29 collections from 24 countries, including Miroslavljevo Jevandjelje. The proposal was approved by UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura on June 21.

Miroslavljevo Jevandjelje is one of the richest manuscripts of its kind and the oldest Serbian book in Cyrillic alphabet. The 181 bound sheet book with miniatures and penmanship of outstanding beauty belongs to a group of illuminated manuscripts of specific style and iconography resulting from the fusion of elements of the West (Italy) and the East (Byzantine). The Serbian script is actually one of the important testimonies of the paths of artistic influences from the West to the East and back. The manuscript documents the liturgical structure of the evangelistary and a development stage of the Serbian orthography, and also speaks about Christian princes in the Balkans at the end of the 12th century. This invaluable material, parchment and gilding, written for medieval Serbian Knez (Duke) Mirolsav, has been preserved almost completely. During the Ottoman rule, the manuscript was kept in the Hilandar Monastery on Mt. Athos (The Holy Mountain). Today, Miroslavljevo Jevandjelje is treasured in the National Museum in Belgrade.

UNESCO launched the Memory of the World Program in 1992 to preserve and promote library treasures and archive collections of universal value. Miroslavljevo Jevandjelje is the second SCG entry to the Memory of the World, after the 2003 inscription of the entire archives of prominent Serbian-born American inventor and scientist Nikola Tesla (1856-1943).