“GOD HAD A PLAN FOR ME”: Artist from Čačak was a novice at Hilandar, and now makes gusle and preserves Serbian tradition!

Gusle are one of the symbols of Serbian cultural and spiritual heritage. This simple string instrument, with one or two strings, has for centuries been the voice of the people, a guardian of history, memory, and identity. Although most often associated with Montenegro, gusle are actually a Serbian folk instrument, deeply rooted in national tradition and epic singing.

Marko Milosavljević (36), an artist from Čačak, makes gusle—a craft that requires patience, faith, and great love for wood, sound, and the past. He was born in Čačak as the third child in his family, and at the age of six, he visited the Hilandar Monastery with his father for the first time, unaware that this visit to the holy site would change his life forever.

Novice at Hilandar

After finishing high school, he enrolled at the Faculty of Physical Education in Leposavić, Kosovo and Metohija, but his inner calling was stronger. After his second year of study, he went to Hilandar Monastery with the desire to become a monk. From September 2011 to March 2013, he was a novice, preparing for monastic life.

“As one Hilandar monk would say: ‘Monastic life is beautiful and difficult.’ Time at Hilandar is measured differently, according to the Byzantine way of reckoning time. In winter, one rises around two o’clock after midnight, in summer around four, but for me, the day began even earlier. As a church attendant, I had to be in church an hour before the service, and before that, complete the cell rule—the prayers assigned by the spiritual guide,” Marko recalled.

According to him, the shortest service with liturgy lasts four and a half hours, representing a significant physical and mental effort.

“You lie down as soon as darkness falls, around six or six-thirty in the evening. Everything is precisely scheduled—prayer, meals, obedience. If you step outside that order, the purpose of being at Hilandar is lost,” he explains.

He also described what it feels like to walk on the ground once walked by Saint Sava.

“Essentially, they were like us, ordinary people who became who they were through their deeds. No one came to Hilandar because they were chosen; everything is gained through lifestyle and turning to God through prayer. A person arrives as an ordinary human, and depending on how devoted they are to God and monastic life, they may or may not become a saint,” Marko says.

Although he deeply wanted to become a monk, Marko admits that exhaustion took its toll. He could not sleep, and then realized that God had a different plan for him. With the blessing of the abbot, he returned home, but the experience on Mount Athos changed his life forever.

“It is a great offering to the Lord, but also a great blessing from God. A person changes internally there. The life of a monk may seem monotonous at first glance, but only from the outside. Inside, much is happening; one begins to listen to what happens in the mind and soul, which in the modern world we almost never notice,” he said.

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Return from the monastery

Upon returning from the monastery, Marko’s life took a different path. He first worked at the post office, then spent some time working temporarily in the Czech Republic and Germany, but eventually returned to Čačak. And then he began making gusle. He says his love for them actually began much earlier, during his first visit to Hilandar in 1996, when his father bought him a cassette of gusle music by Saša Laketić.

“I found that cassette by chance and only played it as a teenager, at 11 or 12 years old. I remember the shivers and delicate feelings that ran through me while listening to the gusle. It was completely different from any music I had heard before,” Marko recounted.

Seeing his love for gusle, his father wanted to gift him a set for his 18th birthday, but it did not happen then. Marko bought his first gusle at the age of 28 from the famous craftsman Momo Čabak, whose apprentice he became.

“I was fascinated by the workshop and the process itself. I became friends with Momo, and he selflessly shared his knowledge. I also owe special gratitude to Svet Bjelica from Zrenjanin, who helped me equip the workshop,” he added.

How gusle are made

For making gusle, Marko explains, maple wood is most often used, sourced from Zlatar, Zlatibor, or Ivanjica. The wood is cut into billets and must dry for at least four to five years to ensure the instrument has good sound and quality. Once aged, rough shaping is done with tools, followed by the most important part—the work with the chisel.

“Then the fine details are carved—icons, the neck, and the bowl—so the gusle gain fullness. On the head of the gusle, I usually carve a horse or a goat. Every detail gives the instrument soul and uniqueness,” he explained.

A particular challenge is stretching the goat skin, which must be perfectly balanced—not too loose, not too tight—to give the gusle a clear and beautiful tone. Not counting the drying of wood and skin, making one gusle takes between 15 and 20 working days. Marko has been making gusle independently for five years and has made over 30 instruments so far, although he rarely plays them himself.

“If I wanted to be a guslar, I would have learned to play. Instead, I dedicated myself to building them,” he says with a smile.

For him, gusle are special precisely because of their simplicity. His workshop is located on the banks of the West Morava and he describes it as a balm for the soul.

“Working with wood enriches a person and brings inner peace,” Marko admits.

He showcases his instruments on social media and through this, met his wife Marija, with whom he has a daughter, Višnja.

And monastic life?

“Who knows, maybe one day when I grow old, I’ll return to monastic life. It doesn’t have to be Hilandar; maybe I’ll become a monk in some monastery in Serbia,” Marko says honestly.