| |
Monastery Holy Mother of God, village of Glumovo
On the left bank following the valley of river
Treska, on altitude of about 300 meters, the
monastery Matka and the church dedicated to Holy
Mother of God are situated. From the sometime big
monastery complex, only the church succeeded
completely to resist throughout the centuries.
In the 14th century the church was built by the son
of the noblewoman Danica who was donor of the church
St. Nikola in the village Ljuboten, the noble
Bojko. At the same time he appears as founder of
many church objects in Skopje region. Throughout the
centuries the church had been destroyed and rebuilt
again. From the inscription above the entrance door,
dated from the end of 15th century, we learn that
its re-constructors were Milica, than Nikola
together with his father and with the Metropolitan
Atanasij.
The monastery complex today, besides the church, is
comprised of mansion with the belfry, the Bishop’s
residence, the housekeeper’s house and the monastery
water tap with healthy and clean spring water. The
church has shape of narrow written cross in which
central part the eight-sided cupola elevates, with
its four windows and niches leaned on pilastres. The
eastern side finishes with three-sided altar apse.
The fresco-decoration in the interior of the church
dates from the end of 15th century. It is divided in
five zones that present number of figures in whole
size and in medallions, as well as compositions with
Sufferings of Christ and the Great holidays. The
donors of the church, Milica and Nikola are
presented in their civilian clothes. The
fresco-decoration of this church is weaker artistic
accomplishment and real contrast to the one in the
neighboring church of Saint Andrea.
Church St.Atanasij, village of Šiševo
Close to the village Šiševo a church is located that
was known in the past as St.Nikola and today has the
name of St.Atanasij. It was built probably on the
foundations of some older building. For that says
some parts that peep out in the interior of the
church. There are almost no historical data for this
church.
Saint Atanasij is a small single-nave church above
which elevates semicircular cupola. It is built of
cut stone. In its inside could be entered from two
entrances, placed on the northern and western side.
The façade is simple, and its eastern side finishes
with three-sided apse. The church is entirely
painted and the frescoes are in a great condition.
The inscription above the western entrance, in old
Slavic language indicates the names of some civilian
and church people who was probably deserving for its
construction. There is another inscription, which is
hardly readable because of the big damage that
mentions the year 1565 as a year of painting the
church. Its fresco-decoration, although roughly
expressed and modestly colored is very interesting
and contains in itself particular stylish-artistic
qualities that indicate the time of the second half
of the 16th century.
Konaci (lodgings) of Havzi Pasha in the village
of Bardovci, Skopje region
One of the most impressive monuments of the Islam
profane architecture on the territory of Balkans
peninsula in the time of the feudal society
establishment are the Konaci (lodgings) of Havzi
pasha in the village of Bardovci near Skopje.
The
mansions, as well as the ciflig (manor) of this
Skopje’s pasha, were built in the first half of the
19th century. Compared to the others in the Balkans,
the mansions in Bardovci distinguish by their size
and by the extraordinary stylish manufacturing and
decorative diversity and richness. However,
basically they carry marks of a ciflig (manor).
It is interesting that Havzi pasha conducted
plan schedule of the buildings in this settlement
that makes his ciflig from an open type of
construction and urban disposition. This means that
the lodgings are separated from the other houses of
the settlement through which the pasha provided
better living conditions for the people.
In the mansions the life was organized for the
master and his family, but also for his vassals,
servants and guardians of this property. The complex
was surrounded by stone walls five meters high. On
the outer side, on certain distance eight
watchtowers were disposed, used for defense from
eventual enemy attacks.
The inner part of the mansion’s complex is divided
into three parts, separated by inner walls, high as
the surrounding walls. In the central part the
exclusively male people building was located. The
eastern part was reserved for the female members of
the family and their children. In the western part
were the premises for keeping the horses. In each of
these parts there were subsidiary buildings. By
their richly decorated interior distinguish the
premises where the master and his family stayed. For
the constructors of the mansion there are still no
data found.
The church St. Andreja, Matka, Skopje region,
14th century
In the magnificent environment of the locality
Matka, surrounded by the high rocks, on the left
bank of the artificial lake Matka, at several
hundreds of meters from the monastery complex Matka,
the monastery St. Andreja is located. It belongs to
the eparchy of Skopje.
In the preserved inscription above the west entrance
from the inside it reads that this monastery church
was built in the year 1389 by Andreja, the
second-born son of the king Volkašin. In another,
fairly damaged inscription from the same church,
noted are the locations that the donor has granted
to this monastery as its property. Above the niche
on the southern side of the altar apse the name of
the monk Kalest Kiril is noted, because he
contributed to the errection of the church, together
with other people the names of whom are inscribed on
the north side of the apse. Among them are the
Metropolitan Jovan zograph and the monk Grigorij.
The inscriptions in this monument of culture are
written in the Greek and in the Slavic alphabet.
The monastery church Sveti Andreja is designed as an
elongated three-conchal church, in the middle of
whish there is the dome. In the middle of the 16th
century the porch was built.
The fresco-painting, by its stylistic and artistic
properties, distinguishes this small church ofrom
the other churches from that historic period in
Macedonia. The zograph who worked in the churches in
the vicinity of Prilep has painted scenes and
figures that stand from the traditional iconographic
scheme. In three horizontal zones, with vivid
colors, frescos are painted depicting the figures of
the Holy Warriors (Sv. Gjorgjija, Dimitrija, Teodor
Tiron and Teodor Stratilat, characterized by their
exceptional vital force and "profane" facial
expression) and scenes from the life of Jesus
Christ.
Besides the church, this monastery complex is
composed by the great lodgings, the time of built of
which is not known, as well as several facilities
that are used as warehouse, summer kitchen with an
oven and a big terrace, located on the very shore of
the Lake.
Monastery church Saint Nikola Sisevski, Skopje
region
In the canyon of the river Treska, opposite the
monastery St. Andrea, is the location of the church
St.Nikola of the Sisevski monastery. There are no
certain sources for the time of its construction or
the time of its fresco-decoration. It is mentioned
in the 17th century and this tells us that in the
time of the Turkish period there had been active
monastery life. It seems that this object was
completely abandoned sometimes in the 18th century.
Later again the life in the monastery was renovated,
but only for short period of time.
There is a fact that the fresco-decoration was done
in 1630 and the cross on the iconostasis in 1645.
The iconostasis of this church was replaced in the
neighboring church St. Atanasij.
The monastery church Saint Nikola is comprised of
two buildings. The first one is a small single-nave
church with three-side apse on the east. The second
building was annexed right to the older church in a
form of written cross with consoles and cupola. Both
buildings considerably differ by the way of
construction, where the older part is built of cut
stone and the later one of stone and brick.
There are three visible layers of frescoes. The
oldest one is preserved in fragments. The next one
dates from 14th century and is comparable with the
ones in the monasteries in Zrze, Konce and Poloski
monastery, as well as other monasteries from that
period. The last layer, encountered on the walls of
the priprata (porch), dates from the first half of
the 17th century. It presents figures of saints as
well as scenes from the life of Jesus Christ and
St.Nikola. |
|