The Tavna monastery is easily reached by asphalt roads from Bijeljina, Loznica, Zvornik and Ugljevik.

This monastery is a cultural monument and is under state protection. It belongs to the Diocese of Zvornik and Tuzla.

This monastery is a cultural monument and is under state protection. It belongs to the Diocese of Zvornik and Tuzla.

The monastery is one of the oldest buildings in this area (Semberija and Majevica). Throughout its history, it shared the fate of the locals and was the spiritual and cultural center of the Serbian people of this region.

Construction of a monastery

Its construction is attributed to Nemanjić. The Chronicles of Tronoška and Peć say that it was raised by Dragutin's sons Vladislav and Uroš. Today's church of the Tavna monastery was built on the foundations of the original church.

It is already mentioned in the earliest Turkish tax registers from 1533 and 1548, and from 1548 to 1586 it is explicitly mentioned as a monastery. The Tavna Monastery was destroyed during the Turkish rule, but was rebuilt under the leadership of the hajduk. Folklore attributes the renewal to Starina Novak, the hajduk harambashi from the second half of the 16th century, and his brother Radivoje. The monastery church was painted with frescoes, probably at the beginning of the 17th century, because the modest remains of the frescoes are very reminiscent of the frescoes of the monasteries of Žitomislić and Ozren, which were made in the period from 1608 to 1609.

From 1804 to 1918

During Karadjordj's uprising (1804-1813), he was the abbot of Tavna Jefto (Jeftimije) Pljeco, a capable and popular man. When the uprising broke out in Serbia, many Bosnians from this area joined him. When the Turks defeated the insurgents, the Bosnian insurgents returned to their area, but since they were not allowed to return home, they hid in the nearby forests and defended the people from Turkish oppression like bandits. When these hajduks found out that some haračlija Kitovnica had planted in the monastery of Tavni and that he was taking a large tax from the people, that he was torturing and torturing the poor, one company attacked the monastery and killed all haračlija led by Kitovnica. Then the Turks from the surrounding villages attacked the monastery, looted it and set it on fire. The monks fled. It was 1807. Only after the re-liberation of Serbia did Abbot Jefto return and in 1814 rebuild his monastery. The builder was Toma Milosavljevic. However, a new suffering of the Tavna monastery soon came when it was enslaved by Osman Pasha. At that time, the monks did not leave the monastery, but immediately started its renovation.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Tavna Monastery was a very important educational center where young men, who would go for a priestly vocation, were educated. In this school, children studied until 1966, when schooling passed into state hands. During the Bosnian-Herzegovinian uprising (1874 and 1875), a company took refuge in the monastery and came to the monastery to see their wounded after heavy fighting. Upon learning that, the Turks attacked the monastery, slaughtered the wounded, and robbed the monastery.

Between the two world wars

Between the two wars, the monastery was renovated a lot under the administration of Archimandrite Danilo Bilbija. Two great assemblies of the Christian community for the entire Patriarchate were held here.

World War II

The Second World War brought the greatest destruction to the monastery of Tavna. In July 1941, the Ustashas dispersed and interned the monks. The monastery was bombed several times, and in 1943, when a partisan hospital took refuge in the monastery, the Ustasha army set fire to the dormitory. At that time, the library and old writings were completely destroyed, and the church was somewhat preserved. The biggest victim was Zdravko Jovanović, when the Ustashas shot at the door of the monastery. It is written on his grave: Killed in 1943 by the Ustasha blue division guarding and defending the monastery.

On April 20, 1943, the Second Vojvodina NOU Brigade was formed in the monastery.

After 1945

After the war, Tavna looked like a crematorium, and the monks left it. The new government confiscated the monastery property and it was very difficult to rebuild the monastery. Only in 1954, when the abbess Justina Kerkezović came here from Žiča with several nuns, the monastery was renovated. The fraternity now has sixteen nuns and two novices, who cultivate a large monastery estate and an agricultural farm.

In the monastery of Tavna near Bijeljina, there is a Holy Scripture that is more than 350 years old, the only book preserved after the Germans burned the konak, archive and monastery library with 10,000 titles in the Second World War.

One of the bells was donated to the Monastery by King Alexander the Unifier, during a visit to this shrine.

Upon his accession to the throne of the Diocese of Zvornik-Tuzla, His Eminence Bishop Fotija brought particles to the relics of the Holy Bishop Nikolaj Ohridski and Žički to the monastery of Tavna.

In the monastery yard, on the slopes of the mountain Majevica, there is a fountain with drinking water, the source of which is unknown.

Tavna is a nunnery whose sisterhood has nine nuns.