The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul commonly known as Church of St Peter (Црква Светог Петра / Crkva Svetog Petra) or simply Peter’s Church (Петрова црква / Petrova crkva) is a Serbian Orthodox church, the oldest intact church in Serbia and one of the oldest ones in the region, situated on a hill of Ras, the medieval capital of the Serbian Grand Principality (Rascia), in Novi Pazar, Serbia. It is part of the Stari Ras complex, an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It was founded in the 4th century during Roman rule, while additions were made in the 7th and 9th centuries, after which it served as the ecclesiastical seat of the Serbian church, and as the baptismal church and state council site of the Nemanjić dynasty, until the last years of the 12th century. It is dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul.
Novi Pazar is a city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2011 census, the urban area has 66,527 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 100,410 inhabitants. The city is the cultural center of the Bosniaks in Serbia and the region of Sandžak. A multicultural area of Muslims and Orthodox Christians, many monuments of both religions, like the Altun-Alem Mosque and the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, are found in the region which has a total of 30 protected monuments of culture.
The Đurđevi Stupovi Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in the vicinity of today’s city of Novi Pazar, in the Raška region of Serbia.
The monastery is located near Novi Pazar, on the top of a prominent elevation covered with woods. It was erected in ca. 1170 as an endowment of Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja, dedicated to St. George; it is known as the “Pillars of St. George”. The monastery is exceptional not only for its position and significance it had according to medieval chronicles and manuscripts, but also for its particular architecture. It was named after the church dedicated to St George and its two former bell towers, two high towers – pillars (old Slavic language- stolp, stub). Namely, according to Stefan the First-Crowned, Nemanja had built this church to commemorate his gratitude to St. George for saving him from dungeons-caves where he was put by his brothers.