Markuskirka - Church of St. Mark

Dette er Markuskirka, eller ’kirka til apostelen og evangelisten Markus’, som det hele og fulle navnet er på serbisk. Den ligger ganske sentralt i byen, ikke langt fra parlamentet, og sist søndag havna jeg tilfeldigvis på ettermiddagsmesse her. Det var fascinerende, men med sår forkjølelseshals ble det litt slitsomt med røkelsen etterhvert...

This is St. Mark’s Church, or ’the Church of the Apostle and Evangelist Mark’, as its full Serbian name reads. It is located quite centrally in Belgrade, close to the Republican Parliament. Last Sunday afternoon I incidentally found myself at mass here. It was quite fascinating (and the singing was beautiful!), but with a sore throat the inscence was a bit too much in the end...

Apostelen Markus vokter inngangen.
The Apostle Mark watching the entrance of the church.







Egentlig ville jeg ta bilde av altertavla, for den var nydelig. Men så la jeg merke til den gamle dama i sorte klær. Hun var helt tydelig veldig ’med’ på messa, og korsa seg og neia og alt hva man tydeligvis skulle. Noen ganger korsa hun seg fra panna og bøyde seg helt ned til bakken – uten å bøye knærne! Langt mer spenstig enn hva jeg forventa da jeg trodde jeg bare så ei gammel dame...
Originally I intended to take a picture of the alter paintings, because they were amazing. But then the old woman in black clothes caught my attention. She was completely into the whole mass, and she crossed herself and kneeled and did everything that seemed to belong to the mass ’procedures’. Some times she’d cross herself so completely that she bent down and touched the ground – without bending her knees at all! I was quite impressed; she was a lot more fit than I expected when I thought I saw just a random old lady...