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Monastery of Lesnovo
Lesnovski Monastery
Between Kratovo and Zletovo in the village Lesnovski there is a
monastery by the same name
with a church dedicated to Archangel Michael and Gavrilo. The church was
built in 1341 upon the
foundations of an older church, which existed in the time of Gavril
Lesnovski, whose relics used to be
buried there. This monastery had a rank of an abbey until 1347 when it
rose to a centre of the newly
formed Zletovo Episcopacy. In the 17th century cells and a dining rom
were built around the church
and remains of these can be found among the overnight shelters of the
19th century.
During the whole Middle Ages and later, the Monastery of Lesnovo had an
important role as a centre of literacy and also a school existed there
in the
18th century. The foundations of the Lesnovski Monastery are in the
shape
of an equal leg cross, laid out in a rectangular space and this can be
noticed clearly in the outward appearance of the architecture. Some
scholars concluded that the paintings of the monastery had been done by
fresco painters. Following the conservation work on the church in 1962,
three names of the four fresco painters who worked on the church's
frescos
were discovered. Those names are Sevasto, Marco and Michael. Until more
information is discovered, it is very hard to determine who was the
painter
of a group of frescos in the church, although there are obvious
differences
among each group of frescoes. What makes it harder is the fact that the
names of the masters are not written on each artwork as in the case of
the
signatures of the well known fresco painters Michael and Evtihie, are
written on the pedestal.
The wood carved iconostasis, a masterpiece produced by the wood carving
group led by Petre Filipovski from the village Gari, attracts a lot of
one's
attention. Information on the carving of the iconostasis written by
Petre
Filipovski can be found in the Lesnovo memory book. IT is written in the
memory book that renovations on the monastery had been done in the
period between 1808-1811 and that work on the wooden iconostasis began
in 1811 and was completed in 1814.
Then comparing the three iconostases done buy Petre Filipovski's group,
one
can conclude the most solid and detailed iconostasis is the one in the
Bigorski Monastery, followed by the iconostasis in the church of Sv.
Spas (St
Salvation) in Skopje. The Lesnovo iconostasis was done in a bulkier
carve, probably due to the amount of
money the Lesnovo monks were able to pay for the work. Nevertheless, the
iconostasis remains an
important masterpiece of our wood carving masters of the first half of
the 19th century. The old
overnight shelters can be found around the monastery which was built in
stages during the 19th
century.
Monastery of Joakim Osogovski
The Monastery of Joakim Osogovski is situated on the slopes of the
mountain Osogovo a
few klms from Krivia Palanka. It is also known under the name
Sarandopor, it is built on
a place founded by Joakim, a disciple of Jovan Rilski, who lived in the
period between
the 11th and 12th centuries. IT is written in the hagiography of J.
Osogovski that a priest
named Teofan from Ovcho Pole, who got the name Teofan after becoming a
monk
founded the monastery during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor, Manojlo
Kimmen
(1142-1180). When Teofan became the monastery's first prior, he built a
church
dedicated to J. Osogovski, in which he has buried Joakim's relics.
During the 17th century the Monastery flourished economically. The
Turkish writers of travel books,
Hadji Kalfa and Evlija Chelebija frequently visited it. The first write
that there was an old monastery
and that the bodies of the founders were buried under a dome. The second
one described the monastery
as old, big and flourishing. The monastery was visited by many guests
and provided beds with silk and
with gold woven bedspreads. The guests were welcomed and greeted by the
monks.
In the middle of the 18th century the monastery fell into disrepair. Its
revival began somewhere in the middle of the 19th century. Under the
initiative of Hadji Stefan Beglikchiya from Kriva Palanka, the building
of
the Cathedral dedicated to J. Osogovski began in 1847. It was completed
and dedicated in 1851. The other smaller church was dedicated to the
Virgin Mary and was probably built in the 16-17th century.
The new Cathedral dedicated to J. Osogovski has a prominent place
among the other monasteries. The church's interior was fresco painted on
the western, southern facade and on the domes. Dimitar Andonov
Papradiski worked on the interior of the church on many occasions
(1884-1885, 1887, 1906, 1932,
1939, 1944). Also the monk Teofon from the Monastery Osogovski, fresco
painted the composition
"Baptism of Christ". Dimitar Andonov Papradiski painted the fresco on
the northern and southern hall's
domes, in front of the western facade, between the western facade and
the domes above the hall on the
western side of the church.
In 1909 a boulder hit the middle of the northern wall and badly damaged
the archistructure and
frescoes. There is no evidence on how many frescoes of the 19th century
had been destroyed.
A church smaller in size dedicated to the Virgin Mary dated from the
14th century is located north-west
from the Monastery. Its interior has the following compositions;
"Assumption of the Virgin Mary", and
"Crucifixion of Christ".
Monastery of Sv. Jovan Bigorski
Off the main road Gostivar-Debar, two kilometres from the village
Rostusha, a one kilometre long road leads to the Monastery of Sv Yovan
Bigorski. The road surrounded by a forest and tufa rocks goes uphill and
ends up beside the monastery's main entrance. The monastery got its
name after the tufa rocks "bigor" - tufa.
The monastery of Y. Bigorski is distinguished not only by its beautiful
carved iconostasis, but also it is remarkable by its well preserved
monastery rooms for overnight stay, which were built by the skilled
builders of the region who at that time used to go in groups as fresco
painters, wood carvers, icon-graphers and master skilled builders.
The present monastery church is huge in size. It has a big cupola and a
bell tower. It was erected and the fresco painted in the 19th century.
The
church was built of narrow tufa ('bigor') blocks and covered with old
tiles.
Inside, the church is full of frescoes and wooden furniture. The
frescoes in
the big half sphere of the cupola were done by the fresco painter Dicho
in the 19th century. The frescoes
on the west side of the church in the smaller half sphere were done by a
less known fresco painter in the
19th century. The interior of the church consists of a carved
iconostasis, the baldachin in the alter, a
big number of icons, the bishop's throne, chairs and choir recess etc.
The hall of the church holds 19th century frescoes. The first zone has
frescoes of monks-saints of the
ascetic order, and the second zone has the composition; "The Last
Judgment", and scenes from the life
of Adam and Eve.
The iconostasis in the monastery church of Sv. Yovan Bigorski represents
an
extraordinary masterpiece and artwork done by the master Petre
Filipovski. The way it
was done with its richness of figures and compositions on the motifs of
the Old and
New Testaments classify this iconostasis among the best achievements of
wood carving
in Macedonia.
The old overnight stay rooms together with the dining room add to the
beauty of the
monastery. These were built at the end of the 18th century and beginning
of the 19th.
The big palace which has a ground floor and extra floors with spacious
verandahs
with a large number of rooms were nicely decorated by the wood and
carved ceilings.
Most of the rooms had built in wardrobes, shelves, chambers, fire-places
of which a large number were
later walled in.
The monk's cells are located around the large verandah on the first
floor. The monk' rooms, the prior's
room with the monastery's archive, the treasury and the bishop's rooms
are on the second floor. On the
west side of the palace is a dining room that sits 200 hundred people,
nowadays this is the most
fascinating building in the whole monastery. The new monastery palace,
located near the main
entrance of the monastery's yard was rebuilt in 1926/27, has similar
architecture to the old one that
was burnt by an arsonist in 1912.
In the central part of the entirety of the monastery, there is a charnel
house situated next to the
church, which with its architecture fits together with the other
buildings in the surroundings of the
monastery.
Fountains of cold drinking mountain water can be
found on the right hand side of the entrance to the
monastery as well as in the front of the church's hall.
The Church of the Virgin Mary
In the village of Leshok
The old monastery church dedicated to the Virgin Mary
was mentioned for the first time in the first half of the
14th century. Initially it was a rural parish church but
later on it became an appendage to the monastery of Sv.
Atanasie in leshok. The Church of the Virgin mary
became a monastery with a developed monk's residence
when Kiril Peychinovic came as a jeromonk from Sveta Gora in 1818.
The church has three preserved layers of fresco paintings. The oldest
layer dates before 1326. the second
layer was done during the life of Nikanor, who renovated the church in
1641, and the fresco paintings
in 1646. The last renovation of this church was done in 1879 with a
third layer of fresco paintings by
Mihail Gjurchinov from Galichnik. Most of the icons of the iconostasis
and the Czar's doorway were done
by the same fresco painter.
The grave of the well known Macedonian enlightened teacher and jeremonk
Kiril Peychinovic is
situated in the yard of the monastery Leshok. He was born sometime in
1770 in the neighbouring
village Tearce. During his lifetime, Kiril Peychinovic was actively
involved in spreading literacy, he
organised schools for youths and taught in them. He used to collect
books and founded the monastery's
library. In the palace for overnight stays, there is a memorial room
specially devoted to Kiril
Peychinovic, and his tombstone with an epitaph of his own is kept in
this room.
The Monastery of Sv. Naum
The Monastery of Sv. Naum is built on a high cliff on the farthest
southern
point above the Ohrid lake in a natural surrounding of rare beauty. The
erection of this monastery is connected with the name of Naum-Kliment's
associate.
Some investigations on the church's architecture were done in 1955 by
Professor Dimce Koco, whose results gave light to the history of the
monastery
church foundations and some walls of the primordial church Sv. Archangel
built by Naum were found during this study.
In an unknown period Naum's church was completely demolished. A church
was erected upon the old foundations during the period under Ottoman
rule,
probably in the 16th century. This is the church we find at the present
with
naum's crypt inside.
The lower levels if the church's outside walls were built of carved
stone and the domes were built from
bricks. The inscription written on the inside western entrance of the
church states that the fresco
paintings were done during the lifetime of Prior Stevan and were
completed on 6th September 1806.
During the same time the chapel with Naum's tomb was fresco painted. The
whole fresco decoration is
an artwork of the fresco painter Trpo, son of another fresco painter,
Konstantin from Korcha.
The church has an iconostasis carved in the wood dating from 1711. In
the same year Konstantin
worked on iconostasis icons-thrones: (Jesus Christ, The Virgin Mary,
Reunion of the Archangels) and
also worked on the festive icons such as "Crucifixion of Jesus" and
"Entering Jerusalem". The icons of the
iconostasis in the monastery church are among the best artwork
achievements in the first half of the
18th century. After the fire of 1802, part of the palaces for overnight
stay have been renovated.
Marko's Monastery
This monastery, dedicated to Sv. Demetrius is in the
valley of the river Markova Reka, 20 klms south-east of
Skopje in the village of Susica at the foot of Mt
Karagica. As King Marko's father did not finish the
monastery, King Marko finished it in 1366-1371. The
ground plan is a cross inscribed in a square. The
church is domed and has a nathex, and is built of grey
and green stone blocks and red bricks which form
interesting patterns on the outside of the alter apse.
The paintings of this monastery were done by two
groups of masters. One of them painted the upper
frescoes from the dome to the cornice, and the other continued with
their work. The gallery of saints
painted in the first zone was completed with the portrait of the
founder. Special care was taken to paint
the Lamentation of Rachel, which shows the slaughter of the children of
Bethlehem. Remains of the
original iconostasis are also preserved in the church. Thanks to its
secluded position, throughout its
existence the monastery always had quite a large number of monks.
Monastery of Sv. Pantelejmon - Nerezi
The monastery in the village of Nerezi is dedicated to the protector of
health Sv. Pantelejmon. It is
located in the village of Gorno (Upper) Nerezi, about 7 klms south-west
of Skopje, on the slopes of Mt
Vodno.
There are many indications that Skopje was the cultural centre of the
Archbishopric ion the period
between the 11th and 12th century. The monastery church was built in
1164 by the Byzantine rule in
macedonia. The interior is rich with plastic decoration. The marble
iconostasis has acanthus vinex,
palmettes and plaited ornamentation and symbolic Eucharistic reliefs
framing the figures of the
patron Saint and Virgin.
Up to the 14th century the monastery was completely preserved and had a
rich treasury. Later on
monastery documents mention fateful events - earthquakes, fires, pillage
and destruction in which
much of the wealth was lost.
The monastery Church of Sv. Pantelejmon is known afar for its frescoes,
which were made during three
periods. The oldest are those in the first and second part of the naos
and date from the 12th century. In
the first part are holy warriors who are shown life-sized. The
psychological differentiation between the
faces is obvious at the first glance. In the second part are
compositions representing great Christian
festivals, outstanding among which are the Lamentation, the Descent from
the Cross, Presentation in
the Temple, Assumption of the Virgin and many more. To the left of the
stone iconostasis is the framed
Virgin and Child, to the right, also framed the figure of Sv.
Pantelejmon.
The second group of frescoes were painted after the earthquake in 1555.
In
the second half of the 16th century those parts of the church that were
damaged during the earthquake were decorated. In the apse were painted
scenes of the Communion of the Apostles, the Holy Archbishop,
compositions on the vaults which are now completely ruined. The dome
was painted more recently - in the second half of the 19th century. An
unknown master, known only as the Master of Nerezi, managed his
rendering of holy figures to present as yet unseen colours.
The frescoes in this monastery are a break with the current style of
painting, because the artist did not paint the holy figures in the
customary manner but shows emotions and dramatic scenes.
The power of his art comes to expression best in scenes of the Descent
from
the Cross and Lamentation. These scenes were the main subject of
interest
in examining new features of Byzantine religious painting - drama and
realism. The most realistic are the figures in the Lamentation. In
detail
that dominates the whole scene - the heads of the Virgin and Jesus, a
mother's great pain at the loss of her Son can be felt. The
interpretation of this scene is based on life,
and shows human pain in a divine being. Many times this scene from
Nerezi has been compared with
the same scene painted much later by Giotto di Bordone of Padua.
Monastery of Sv. Nikita
This is a very important building built on a high plateau between the
villages Gorjani, Cucer and
Barjani at the foot of Mt Skopska Crna Gora. The church was built in
1307 on the foundations of an
older church. The interior is built on stone and brick. The facade is
decorated with blind arcades and
geometrical ornamentation.
Most of the frescoes are from 1307/8, with some exceptions. These date
from the 19th century and are in
the dome. The frescoes are by famous painters Mihail and Eftihij, who
painted most of the beautiful
frescoes in macedonia (in Our Lady of Perivleptos, in Ohrid and Sv.
Gorgi in the village of Staro
Nagoricane).
Monastery of Sv. Andrew
About 18 klms south-west of Skopje in the gorge of the Treska, on the
bank of Matka reservoir, lies the
Monastery Church of Sv. Andrew. The church was built in 1389. It is a
combination of a triconchos in the
inside and a freecross on the outside.
In the 16th century a narthex was added in the west. Its interior has
frescoes in three horizontal
bands, outstanding in style. They were painted by the Metropolitan John
from the village of Zrze near
Prilip. The frescoes he pained show life sized faces and figures of
saints and holly warriors of great
strength. The Metropolitan John and his assistant the monk Grigori also
attempted to solve the problem
of perspective. They created a natural relationship between the figures
and motives in the background.
The compositions, The Last Supper, the Deposition and the Prayer on the
Mount of Olives merit special
attention.
Monastery of our Lady Matka
The last pearl of medieval architecture and art in this region is the
Monastery of Matka, dedicated to
the Holly Virgin. The church is on the left bank of the Treska, near the
village if Glumovo. The church is
all that managed to survive through the centuries of this big monastery
which was probably built in the
14th century by Lord Bojko, son of Lady Danica. He founded many other
buildings in the surroundings
of Skopje as well. The ground plan is an inscribed cross. In the centre
rises an octagonal dome with four
windows and four blind arches on pilasters. The alter apse has three
sides. The frescoes in the church
date from the 15th century, and are a true contrast to those of Sv.
Andrew.