Marko Monastery

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Church of St. Demetrius

The Marko Monastery ( Macedonian and Serbian - Cyrillic Марков Манастир ) is located in northern North Macedonia, southwest of Skopje in the village of Markova Sušica .

history

The aristocratic despot Vukašin Mrnjavčević under King Stefan Dušan had the church built in 1346/47. Vukašin became co-regent under Dušan's son Uroš V. Since Uroš V. was childless, Vukašin crowned his young son Marko as king, which met resistance from the other nobles. In 1371 there was the Battle of the Mariza , in which Vukašin was killed and with which the Ottoman expansion in the Balkans began. In the same year Uroš V also died. After the battle of the Mariza, Marko Kraljević entered into a vassal relationship with the Ottomans. The other nobles did not accept him as king. Due to the Ottoman invasion, the completion of the church took about 30 years and the founder Vukašin did not live to see the completion of the church. The frescoes in the church were commissioned by King Marko in 1376/77 or 1380/81. The Church Slavonic donor inscription, dedicated to Saint Demetrius , has been preserved above the south entrance.

architecture

The church measures 10 × 16 meters with a height of 16 meters. The church shape is typical of the churches near Skopje . It was called the “Skopian Paradigm” by the author Slobodan Ćurčić because of the façade order and the banded construction. The church is a cross- domed church with an included blind narthex , which is separated from the central area by two smaller columns ( tribelons ). The narthex thus forms an extension of the nave. The dome of the church rests on an octagonal drum and is supported by four long columns. The church has 2 entrances from the west and east. In front of a southern entrance there was a parakklesion or baptistery , which have not been preserved. In front of the western entrance there is an open exonarthex , which was added by the Ottomans in the 19th century. During the construction, carefully hewn sandstones were alternated horizontally with two or three layers of bricks. The church is structured from the outside, blind arches and niches were highlighted by bricks.

Frescoes

South entrance, fresco by Marko and his father Vukašin Mrnjavčević .

The high quality painting is based on church chants and literary and liturgical works. The liturgy offered the artists a basis on which to build a world of images of high individuality. Above the western door there is a representation of St. Demetrius, above the southern door Marko and King Vukasin have been shown blessing by Christ. It is believed that different painters were at work.

Fixed images are shown under the dome. A cycle of the Passion as well as episodes of the sermons and miracles of Christ are shown on several registers. Different scenes after the resurrection of Christ as well as pictures from the life of St. Nicholas and St. Demetrius form a separate cycle. The program receives many unique images. A menologue was painted along the walls under the passion cycle. The divine representation of Christ in the narthex is also remarkable. The Deesis is given a lot of space , in which the portraits of the donors, which were badly damaged, are inserted. A famous fresco from this church is the child murder of Bethlehem. The last to be mentioned are the Akathisthos frescoes, which are inspired by a Byzantine hymn.

Web links

Commons : Marko Monastery  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Donald M. Nicol: The Last Centuries of Byzantium 1261-1453. London 1972
  2. ^ Slobodan Ćurčić: Architecture in the Balkans: from Diocletian to Süleyman the Magnificent. New Haven 2010
  3. ^ Antonie Nikolovski: The cultural monuments of the people's Republic of Macedonia. Skopje 1961
  4. Vojislav J. Durić: Byzantine frescoes in Yugoslavia. Munich 1976