Hram svetog proroka Ilije

In 2009, the Commission to Preserve National Monuments declared the “Historic Building - Temple of the Holy Prophet Elijah with Movable Property in Puračić, Lukavac Municipality” a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The temple of the Holy Prophet Elijah was built in 1903 instead of the Orthodox wooden church that was previously built in Puračić on another location in 1881. Although this church is architecturally modest and consists of a simple nave and bell tower built of small baked bricks, it has considerable ambient value and is of great historical and traditional importance for the identity of the city where the bazaar was already established in the Ottoman period. Church of St. Ilije in Puračić has retained its original shape, except for the wooden bell tower which was destroyed in 1929 and replaced by a bell tower built of more durable materials. The church has also retained almost all of the interior decoration, including an iconostasis containing an icon on canvas from the early 20th century, and other features During the first half of the 19th century, during the Ottoman period, the town of Puračić had a developed Bazaar and as such had its own market, market day and a traditional annual fair - fair. Such a situation was maintained during the Austro-Hungarian period, and even later, so this place had an important economic and administrative function until the end of the Second World War, ie until 1945. In the thirties of the 20th century, the importance of this municipality was further increased. In addition to the old area (Puračić, Devetak, Modrac, Prokosovići, Bikodže, Turija, Mosorovac, Jaruške and Treštenica), other areas are attached to this municipality: the entire then Banović municipality and most of the Poljica municipality. In this way, the territory of the municipality stretched from the river Spreča to the river Krivaja, including the village of Gosovica, which is located on the left side of the river Krivaja. In that period, Puračić was one of the largest and most economically developed municipalities in the Tuzla district. In the Old Puračić Bazaar, during the Ottoman period, a part of the settlement with a Serb population of about ten houses was formed. These were the houses of Josif Popović, Jova Babunović, Nikica Babunović, Jeste and Jova Lukić, Milan Petrović, Marković and others. In 1881, the first wooden Orthodox church in Puračić was built near the house of Jova Babunović. This small church was consecrated on July 20 of the same year by the Metropolitan of Zvornik and Tuzla, Dionysius, and on that day a church community was founded. Previously, the citizen of Puračić, Vaskrsija Božić, donated the land and the wooden building from which the Temple of St. the prophet Elijah, who served in this place until 1896. After the church was built, in 1885 a school was founded. The wooden church was built of dilapidated timber and was in poor structural condition. Due to this situation, in 1895 the construction of a new church began on the more accessible plain part of Puračić, below the Čaršija towards the river Spreča. Temple of St. of the Prophet Elijah in Puračić was built by the entrepreneur Dimitrije Starčević and the master Gavro Gajić. The temple was consecrated on October 14, 1903 by Metropolitan Nikolaj. The old and dilapidated wooden church was then demolished in 1909, and a monument was erected on the site of the altar. At the same time, minor construction works were done on the newly built church of St. the prophet Elijah. At the end of World War I, the Austro-Hungarian authorities removed the church bell, in order to melt and make cannon barrels and other war material. The new bell was purchased only in 1924 and was temporarily placed on a wooden bell tower in the immediate vicinity of the church, and it was transferred to the newly built bell tower in 1929. The temple of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Puračić, Lukavac municipality, belongs to the type of single-nave churches with a bell tower, built of small bricks - bricks. The historic building has a rectangular base measuring 18.80 m and 11.70 m. In the axis of the church, which is oriented in the east-west direction, on the west side, there is a bell tower measuring 3.40 m and 4.10 m ...