The Holy Monastery of Celija is located 6 km southwest of Valjevo, on the left bank of the river Gradac. Gradac is a submerged river that springs below the mountain Povlen, and after a few kilometers it sinks and erupts again near the village of Bogatić, above Ćelija, near Jako izvor.
From there to Ćelija, Gradac flows through a winding gorge, makes a certain arch around the monastery and goes towards Valjevo, where it flows into Kolubara.
The monastery itself is located in a hilly, picturesque area that belongs to the area of the village of Lelic. To the east of the village are the hills: Vrane, Markovac, Presadi, Kaludjersko brdo, Koviljaca and Celijske Urvine. Between those hills, in one of the valleys, lies a monastery.
“This monastery lies between noisy, rocky mountains, on a small river called Gradac, and in a place quite beautiful and drained,” wrote Joakim Vujić in his “Journey through Serbia”.
The surroundings of the monastery made the monastery itself hidden and invisible from afar. The monastery is not visible until it begins to descend into the valley in which it is located.
