Obed Monastery
Tradition and first mentions
The traditional belief is that the temple of the Obed Monastery was built by Mother Angelina in 1486, using material from the ship she used to transport the relics of her canonized husband to the despotic capital of Kupinovo. However, there is another tradition from the 18th century, which names her son, Bishop Maksim, as the founder of Obed. Allegedly, the former despot founded a small monastic community in this place, dedicated to the Annunciation of the Lord, and there, according to the same legend, his mother became a nun. In the Turkish notebooks, this holy place is mentioned in 1556–1557 and 1578, as a taxpayer who paid 180 akçe to the sultan’s treasury.
The old temple
The ktetor of the old temple made of wood was Lazar Čupić from Vukovar. In reliable sources, this sacred object is also found in 1723, when its antimins was dedicated by Metropolitan Vikentije Popović Hadžilavić. “Description” from 1753 and 1771 present it as a smaller place of worship with a vault and iconostasis made of oak boards, a brick floor and a narthex, which was separated from the nave by a wooden parapet partition. In front of the temple there was a modest dormitory, also made of wood, woven with wicker and covered with mud. At the beginning of the 20th century, there are also mentions of monastic cells made of mud, which disappeared between the two world wars.
Present-day temple and foundation of the monastery
In 1930, on the site of the dilapidated, wooden church, a one-nave building with a brick bell tower was built from durable materials, in which parts of the original iconostasis have been preserved. The Annunciation Temple met the second half of the 20th century in ruins. It was completely restored by the efforts of Bishop Vasilije of Srem and priest Radoje Vukotić, parish priest of Kupinovo. The painting was done by Lazar Lekić and Goran Desančić. This shrine does not have a monastic family, and is overseen by the current parish priest from Kupinovo.