Hidden in the embrace of the forests, the White Church at Beljajka has for centuries preserved monastic silence and prayerful peace. The people remember it as the Vrbovac Church, raised in the former village of Vrbovac, abandoned in the time of Turkish oppression. Tradition says that it was built in the age of Despot Stefan Lazarević, at the same time as Manasija. Although it is not mentioned in historical sources, the architecture and spiritual beauty of this church recall the smaller churches of the Serbian Despotate. Its stone walls remember renewals and trials - in the 18th century it was painted with frescoes, of which only fragments have survived. In turbulent times it suffered, but the faithful people renewed it.
Its dome, resting on strong pendentives, still dominates the surroundings with its appearance today. Simple yet harmonious, the White Church captivates with its beauty. Single-naved, with a small narthex and a semicircular apse, it rises in stone and sandstone, with a monumental cupola and elegant biforate windows. The White Church, a metochion of Manasija Monastery, is today also a cultural monument. Every year, on the Lesser Feast of the Theotokos, the faithful gather in its churchyard, and a procession crowns the feast. This ancient house of prayer, in the embrace of nature, remains a symbol of faith, perseverance and love for the spiritual heritage.
The Lesser Feast of the Theotokos, or the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, is a feast of light and blessing, on which we remember the miraculous coming into the world of her who would become the Mother of God. This great feast, which the Orthodox Church celebrates on September 21/8, reminds us of the mystical story of the aged parents Joachim and Anna, to whom, after long years of prayer, a child was granted by the grace of the Lord. In their humble home the Theotokos Mary was born, descended from the royal house of David and the high-priestly line, destined to bring salvation to the world. Many Orthodox churches are dedicated to this ancient Christian feast - among them the metochion of Manasija Monastery, the "White Church."
Several kilometers east of Manasija Monastery, within the lands of the gentle village of Beljajka, surrounded by wooded hills and quiet valleys, rises an ancient holy place - the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, better known among the people as the "White Church."
Its white stone silhouette bears witness to the centuries that have passed, leaving in its walls traces of the faith, labor and suffering of our people, reminding us of the prayers raised in it toward Heaven since ancient times. Its silence, as a mute witness to the monastic spirit of prayer, bears witness in its own way to centuries of endurance.
Hidden in the embrace of the forests of the village of Beljajka, near Manasija Monastery, the White Church has preserved its prayerful peace through the centuries. Surrounded by forest paths and the murmur of springs - Pop's Fountain, the Monks' Brook, Marko's Fountain and the Roman Spring - this holy place bears witness to the unbroken spiritual thread that connects past centuries of spiritual ascent with the present time. The path to it leads through a green tunnel of leaves and branches, as though nature itself were preparing pilgrims for an encounter with the sublime.