Old Serbian monastery The oldest mention of Partoș Monastery dates from 1571, 19 years after the occupation of
Banat by the Turks, when
hieromonk Lavrentije Crnogorac, on his way to
Brașov and
Alba Iulia, stayed here and commissioned
The Four Gospels printed at the
Mrkšina crkva printing house in 1562. The Austrian map of Banat from 1723 depicts the monastery as isolated, surrounded by extensive forests and marshes. As of 1771, the monastery treasury featured parts of the head of
St. Archdeacon Stephen. Local tradition has it the large church of the monastery was built between 1750 and 1753 by Marcu Muțiu as a sign of gratitude for what he studied here (in the 18th century Partoș housed a training school for teachers and priests from Banat) and because his daughter was healed through prayer at the tomb of St. Joseph the New. From the entire monastic complex before 1750, only the chapel survived. Modest in appearance, its plan respects the configuration of the old nave-type churches, ending towards the east in a semicircle that indicates the place of the altar. In 1655, Metropolitan Joseph of Timișoara voluntarily retired to the Partoș Monastery, where he would die three years later. He was buried in the nave of the church, next to the entrance door. Metropolitan Joseph of Timișoara was canonized as St. Joseph the New, first by Romanians (1956), then by Serbs (1965). His relics were unearthed during the excavations of 1955–1956 and transferred to the
Timișoara Orthodox Cathedral, where they are preserved to this day. In 1666, the monks sent by the Patriarchate of
Peć (İpek in Turkish) came to Banat for the second time for almsgiving (the first time in 1660) and met at the Partoș Monastery the abbot
kyr Ștefan (who according to the appellation came from a Greek monastery or was sent by the
Patriarchate of Constantinople) and the priest Bratul. The presence of an
hegumen proves that the monastery had more inhabitants and that it was well organized under the Turks. The hieromonks of the monastery have always performed parish duties in the (a 'village on a monastery's property') of the same name. According to the tax census from 1743, the inhabitants of the monastery were Serbs. During the communist years, the monastic life here was interrupted, its place being taken by the Partoș parish. On 6 March 2008, the Metropolitan Synod of the
Metropolis of Banat, meeting under the presidency of Metropolitan
Nicolae of Banat, decided, based on the proposal of the Diocesan Council, to re-establish the Partoș Monastery, intended for monks. == References ==