Krka Serbian Orthodox Monastery

Deep in the upper Krka canyon, hidden inside the National Park and reached only by boat or a long forest hike, sits the atmospheric Serbian Orthodox Monastery of the Archangel Michael — one of the most important spiritual centres of the Serbian Orthodox Church on the Adriatic coast, founded in 1350 and continuously inhabited by monks for nearly 700 years. The monastery buildings — including a magnificent domed katholikon church — are set around a beautifully preserved arcaded cloister that would not look out of place on Mount Athos. What makes Manastir Krka completely unique in Europe are the astonishing early-Christian catacombs beneath the church: a system of stone-cut tunnels containing an underground chapel with 4th-century frescoes and a small necropolis — the only extant catacombs in the entire Balkans north of Ancient Ohrid. The monastery survived the 15th-century Ottoman advance, the 1991–95 war (with damage that has been carefully restored), and remains a working community of about 10 monks producing icons, honey and homemade rakija in the traditional way. Access is by boat trip from Roški Slap (60 minutes) or by a rough 6-km hiking trail. Modest dress essential (long trousers or skirts and covered shoulders); women given headscarves at the gate. Silence in the church.