Trg Patrijarha Brankovića 1, Sremski Karlovci
The Clerical High School of Saint Arsenije Sremac in Sremski Karlovci is the successor of the former clerical high school as the most important institution for the education of Orthodox priests in the Kingdom of Hungary during the last 150 years of its existence.
The first Serbian Orthodox School was founded by Metropolitan Stefan Stratimirović of Sremski Karlovci in 1794, which is three years after the establishment of the famous Karlovci Grammar School. This seminary continued to exist until 1872, when it gets closed. It reopens in 1875.
In the second half of the 19th century, it experienced its zenith. At that time, Ilarion Ruvarac was its head as rector.
At the dawn of the First World War in 1914, the Hungarian authorities abolished the school as a form of pressure on the Serbs across the Sava and Danube. After the war, the school, same as the patriarchal throne, moved to Belgrade, where it later grew into the Faculty of Orthodox Theology.
In 1964, the Clerical High School was founded again in Sremski Karlovci and took the name of Saint Arsenije Sremac.
The Clerical High School of St. Arsenije Sremac was the source of the famous Karlovci chant, which for decades was used in the church music of Kornelij Stanković, who was the first to translate the Karlovci chant into sheet music and therefore preserve it for new generations.
This school is one of the seven seminaries of the Serbian Orthodox Church located in four countries. In this school, students are educated and brought up in the spirit of sacred tradition to serve the Church, as well as to continue their education at theological faculties and spiritual academies. Schooling in the Clerical High School lasts 5 years, during which time the students are housed in a boarding school.
Today, this institution is housed in the Palace of the Church and People’s Funds, which was built by Patriarch Georgije Branković in 1902, according to the plans of the architect Vladimir Nikolić. In addition to the Clerical High School of St. Arsenije, the archive of the Metropolitanate of Karlovci is now located here, under the professional management and supervision of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
