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The next year, the new patriarch visited the Serbs in the coast lands who were under the control of Venice. He met the [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] archbishop of Bar, Andrija Zmajević, who was Serb, and also member of Crnojevici family, in order to contact European powers for the protection of Christians under Turkish rule. He also visited his flock in Bosnia in 1674 and in Braničevo and Srem in 1676. The following year he went to Žiča Monastery, then to Braničevo; he also visited Smederevo in 1680. All these visits were in order to give spiritual support to the Serbian people. In 1682 Arsenije decided to make a [[pilgrim]]age to Jerusalem. Before leaving, he visited Metropolitan Teofan of Skoplje and Bishop Ananija of Karatovo.
When he arrived in Jerusalem, Arsenije was the guest of the famous [[Patriarch of Jerusalem]], [[Dositheos Dositheus II Notarius of Jerusalem|Dositheos Notarios]] (1669-1707). While he was in the [[Holy Land]], Arsenije kept a journal.
After arriving home, he found his people in the middle of the [[w:Great Turkish War|Great Turkish War]]. The Turks arrested him, and he had to pay 10000 talirs (6000 pounds of sterling) for his freedom. He was soon forced to leave Peć because the Turks tried to kill him. He returned after the Austrians captured Peć. Under great pressure from the Austrians, he was forced to call all Serbs to join the Austrian army. About 20,000 Serbs joined the Austrian army, but the Serbs and Austrians were defeated near Skoplje in the winter of 1689. The patriarch, along with 90,000 people, started retreating.
