A log-cabin Church of the Ascension of Christ in Pranjani 

The present-day log-cabin church in the village of Pranjani – dedicated to the ascension of Christ – was built in 1827 on the foundations of an older log-cabin church of Saint Nicholas, which was consecrated in 1724. The reason for changing the temple’s patron Saint at that time is unknown, but what is known is that the older church was much bigger than the new one. The builders from Osat (Serbian “osaćani”) erected a rectangular temple with a four-sided apse and a steep roof covered in large shingles on the stone foundations. The interior is comprised of an altar, the nave and the narthex, the upper part of which is occupied by the choir. The church has a semi-circular dome made of slats. What is prominent is a nicely carved door decoration with stylised floral and geometrical ornaments in combination with small crosses and rosettes, which is typical for the work of the craftsmen from Osat. The altar partition wall of log-cabin in Pranjani was removed at some point and taken to the newly built church. The painter of iconostasis and its door was Sreten Protić – the son of a famous XIX century iconographer, Janko Mihailović Moler. Inside the church, the only things which have remained preserved in their authentical state with extremely precise Baroque carvings are the icons of Jesus Christ and the Madonna and Child.

Behind the church, there is a graveyard with tombstones dating back to the XIX century. The 1892 tombstone of Grigorije Đogović from Pranjani draws special attention. It is assumed that he was a descendant of one of the builders from Osat as his tombstone contains a carved saw and a carpenter’s ax on one side, as well as tools symbolising his vocational skills on the other side.

The Church of the Ascension of Christ in Pranjani 

Not far away from the 1827 log-cabin church, a church made of brick and stone – also dedicated to the ascension of Christ – was constructed in 1903 owing to the effort of a priest Svetozar Jeremić and his parishioners. The year when the church was built is carved in plaster above the main entrance to the temple. The church in Pranjani belongs to the group of temples in the shape of a cross without a dome according to its type, whereas it stylistically belongs to Serbian-Byzantine tendencies in architecture. It is medium in size, built with the combination of stone and brick, and then coated with plaster.

The interior of the church is simple, without the narthex, and the space for the choir is located above the entrance. There is a dome at the intersection of two naves – which is coloured in a way to resemble the sky, whereas the church itself has semi-circular arches. The church has the main, west and side (north) entrance, and the front façade is decorated with a big stone rosette that has the Star of David in its centre. The main, longitudinal nave of the church has no window openings, but the transverse one has two triple lancet windows in stone, made in such a way to look like a separate sculptural whole. A trilateral apse in the East has three narrow windows with modelled arches. What makes the façade specially decorated is the fact that its surface is entirely covered in horizontal and vertical cuts in plaster. Beneath the roof, there is a profiled roof outlet with a frieze of blind arcades below it which go around the entire church following the roof line. There are stone crosses on its edges.

A wooden iconostasis closes the altar space. The inscription at the bottom part of a parapet plate says that it was engraved by Božo Mitrović from Kosjerić, and on the other side there is data that Mileva Alimpić (maiden name Vukomanović) – the wife of General Alimpić – donated the icons to the church to commemorate her parents. The icons are placed in several zones. They were painted on canvas in the style of Realism, but with the traces of Romanticism. However, their author has remained unknown. In the churchyard of the Church of the Ascension of Christ, there is a wooden bell tower, which was reconstructed in 1934 with the effort of parishioners and the priest Dragutin Bulić.