CABIN CHURCH IN KUCANI
History
The Church of the Log Cabin in Kucani is dedicated to the birth of the Most Holy Mother of God, and it is the smallest and perhaps the oldest church in this area. The church is a monument of exceptional importance and has been placed under state protection. According to some data, it was built shortly before 1780, while the narthex was added in 1838. The church has royal doors, handmade by Simeon Lazovic, an icon painter from Bijelo Polje. According to the record, the doors were painted in 1780. It is assumed that this was at the time of the construction of the church.
Built in the mountains, the miniature church was, according to legend, transferred to a secret place for the night at a time when the enslaved people had a primordial instinct for self-preservation and faith in God as their only hope. It has been covered with shingles on several occasions.
Cultural site details
The existing building is without foundations, made of pine planks; the roof is covered with shingles, one of which is movable around its axis so that it functions as a ventilation opening. In the northern part of the altar space, there is a niche which, with its externally visible construction, creates a false impression of the five-sidedness of the apse. Simultaneously with the church, partitions were created that separate the nave from the altar, i.e. the narthex, as well as the church seat on one side of which several rows of roughly turned pillars have been preserved. In the southwest corner of the nave there is a stone vessel for consecrated water. Protective works were carried out in 1953 and 1981. The west and north gates are only 112 cm high. The floor is paved with irregularly shaped stone slabs, and the west door to the narthex, which can be assumed to be from the time the church was built, is decorated very decoratively. Although small, this church was expertly built and is a significant work of folk builders from Stari Vlah who were appreciated and known throughout western Serbia during the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, where log houses and log cabin churches were mostly built.