Oktoih Day

We can imagine the hieromonk Makarije lifting the last sheet from the press, the red and black ink still wet. It was winter. The book in his hands was the first Cyrillic book printed among the South Slavs.

On this day in 1494

The book is the Oktoih prvoglasnik, finished on 4 January 1494 (Julian calendar). It has 270 leaves printed in red and black, and about 105–108 copies survive.

How it happened

Obod was already an important place. In 1485 a charter of Ivan Crnojević, “written in Rijeka”, gave a water mill at Obod to the monastery of St Nicholas. In 1492–1493 Đurađ Crnojević set up a printing press brought from Venice. The printer was the hieromonk Makarije. In the next few years the press also printed the Oktoih petoglasnik, a Psalter (1495) and a Trebnik. In 1496 the Ottomans forced Đurađ out.

How to mark the day

There is no official programme for 4 January. You can still mark it in your own way. Walk up to Obod hill, where the ruins of Ivan Crnojević’s fortress stand near the Church of St Nicholas. Look for the cellar room linked to the printing press, with its marble plaque. Then read the full story of the Obod printing house.

If an official event is announced, we will add it here and on our events page.