The log church in Gornji Palačkovci
Description
The log church in Gornji Palačkovci, also known as the Church of Saints Apostles Peter and Paul, was built and consecrated in 1843. It has been preserved in its original form and renovated in 2000. Its interior furnishings have also been fully preserved, which adds to its special value. This sacred building is an important part of the cultural and historical heritage of the Prnjavor area.
Legend of the oxhide
To obtain permission to build an Orthodox church in the Ottoman period, one had to go all the way to Constantinople and pay the required sum in gold. According to legend, the Ottoman authorities then set one of the most memorable architectural conditions: the church must not be larger than the area covered by a single oxhide. The locals did not give up.
The leather was cut into narrow strips and joined into a long spiral, which was then arranged to create a surface far larger than the original hide. And the architect's ingenuity went even further: the church's exceptionally wide eaves made it possible for twice as many worshippers to shelter under the roof during services as the interior could hold. The church functioned — and fully so.
Icons and craftsmanship value
Inside the church is a collection of around seventy icons from the 19th century — a series of Russian works, Serbian icons made in workshops in Vojvodina, and hand-painted liturgical banners.
During the 1997–1998 reconstruction, when the church was lifted and lowered onto new foundations with hydraulic jacks, older painted layers of great value were discovered beneath the surface layers, showing that the church had been decorated even before the official restoration in 1843. These findings confirm that this log church could be older than the recorded year suggests — which the source itself flagged as an open question.
What to see around the church?
