When a new temple is built in the city, all the believers praise the heavens and worship its builders. As a rule, the new shrine is always more beautiful, expensive, and more spacious and gathers all the parishioners within its walls. That is exactly what happened in the Serbian city of Leskovac, although its residents managed to preserve the small old church, which served them for many years.

It is all about the Old Church of the Most Holy Mother of God, better known as Odzaklija or the Chimney Church (the name created by the citizens because of the history of its construction). You can hear all the stories about the shrine from its parishioners, who, despite the construction of the new Church of the Holy Trinity, remain loyal to their modest church.

A small Serbian Orthodox church was built in 1803 and named after the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God. Its construction took place during the First Serbian Uprising and the Serbian Revolution in general. At that time, the rulers of the Ottoman Empire forbade Orthodox Christians to build their shrines, so the citizens decided to fool them and announced the construction of a residential building for the city priest. They even added a chimney to it to make it more credible. Hence the popular name of the temple.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Orthodox сhurch was almost destroyed. The church you see today is the result of an 1839 reconstruction when it was rebuilt and its layout was slightly changed. The church ran into trouble many times, but each time it perked up for the sake of its parishioners like a little phoenix bird. It was damaged by bombing raids twice, in 1941 and 1944. Bombs fell on it and significantly destroyed it. In 1948, the church was flooded. The water level inside its walls reached more than one meter. Finally, in 1963, its roof collapsed. The communist authorities sabotaged the restoration of the church. The idea of demolishing the building for security reasons was discussed more than once. Fortunately, it did not happen. So today, you can still enjoy its initial appearance with wooden columns and arcades.