The Eparchy of Hum or Zahumlje was founded in 1219, by the first Serbian Archbishop Sava, the same year the Serbian Orthodox Church acquired its autocephaly status from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Thus, it was one of the original Serbian Orthodox bishoprics. It had jurisdiction over the historical regions of Zahumlje and Travunija. The first Bishop of Hum was Ilarion, succeeded by Sava II (son of Stefan the First-Crowned). The original seat was in Ston, in the church of the Most Holy Theotokos (Пресвете Богородице). Following an earthquake, the bishop moved the seat to the Monastery of Holy Apostles in the valley of river Lim in the 1250s. From that time, the Eparchy of Hum was sometimes also called "Eparchy of Lim".
In 1557, Serbian Patriarchate of Peć was restored and the Eparchy of Herzegovina was returned to its jurisdiction, with its bishops holding the honorary title of metropolitan.[4] In 1766, when the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć was abolished, Eparchy of Herzegovina and all other Serbian eparchies under Ottoman rule came under the jurisdiction of Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Bishops of Herzegovina kept their honorary title of Metropolitan, as was also the custom in the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
The seat of metropolitan was transferred to Mostar. Since 1878, the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina was under the occupation of Austria-Hungary, but under the Church Convention of 1880, all Eastern Orthodox eparchies remained under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. At the end of the First World War in 1918, Eastern Orthodox bishops in Bosnia and Herzegovina reached a unanimous decision to enter the united Serbian Orthodox Church. The process of unification was completed in 1920 and since then the Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina has remained part of the Serbian Orthodox Church.[5] The seat of the eparchy was the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Mostar. As of 2017, it is being rebuilt after being demolished during the Bosnian War (1992–1995).
After the restoration of the Serbian Orthodox Church (1920), and with the Church Constitution (1931), diocese comprised the districts Mostar, Bileća, Gacko, nevesinje, Stolac, and Trebinje, the towns of Metković and Dubrovnik and the island of Korčula, the birthplace of Marco Polo. Districts of Foča and Čajniče were allotted to the Diocese of Dabar-Bosnia. Since the Serbian Orthodox Church integration of 1920, the bishops of Zahumlje and Herzegovina were Jovan Ilić (1926-1931), Simon Stanković (1932-1934), Tihon Radovanović (1934-1939), Nikolaj Jovanović (1940-1943), Longin Tomić (1951-1955) and Vladislav Mitrović (1955-1991). At the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1992, Dr. Atanasije Jevtić was elected for the Bishop of the Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina.
During World War II from 1941 to 1943 on the territory of the Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina 19 churches were damaged or destroyed. Nine parish homes were either heavily damaged or totally destroyed. Twelve (12) libraries and 21 church archives were completely destroyed.
Serbia in the Yugoslav Wars
Also, during the breakup of Yugoslavia and the ensuing civil war of 1991-1993, the Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina of all the Serbian Orthodox eparchies sustained the most damage. Twenty-four (24) churches were destroyed and 16 churches were heavily damaged, in addition to the monastery of Zavala. Three chapels were damaged or destroyed in their entirety. Two parish houses were destroyed, one mined and the other set on fire. Bishop's Palace in Mostar and the Bishop's house in Dubrovnik were destroyed, as well. Also, ten cemeteries were either destroyed or desecrated.
In Mostar, where the see of Zahumlje and Herzegovina was located, everything belonging to the Serbian Orthodox Church was destroyed. The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, constructed in 1873 at a time of occupation, between 7 and 8 June 1992, was shelled, and on 15 June (on the second day of the Pentecost) the belltowers were destroyed and the cathedral was set ablaze. Subsequently, the remaining walls were mined, and the monumental shrine was turned into rubble.
The old church built in the 16th century in honor of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, situated in the cemetery of Mostar, was also destroyed. The Bishop's Palace, built in the 19th century, was mined while the monastery of Zitomislic which suffered damages in World War II, also met the same fate in the war of 1991-1993. (The survey of damaged, destroyed and desecrated churches, monasteries, and other church buildings during the war of 1991-1993 was cited from the archives of the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church.)
Sotirović, Vladislav B. (2011). "The Serbian Patriarchate of Peć in the Ottoman Empire: The First Phase (1557–94)". Serbian Studies: Journal of the North American Society for Serbian Studies. 25 (2): 143–169. doi:10.1353/ser.2011.0038. S2CID143629322.
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