The Stu­deni­ca Monastery was estab­lished in the late 12th cen­tu­ry by Ste­van Neman­ja, founder of the medieval Serb state, short­ly after his abdi­ca­tion. It is the largest and rich­est of Serbia‘s Ortho­dox monas­ter­ies. Its two prin­ci­pal mon­u­ments, the Church of the Vir­gin and the Church of the King, both built of white mar­ble, enshrine price­less col­lec­tions of 13th- and 14th-cen­­tu­ry Byzan­tine paint­ing.