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Prilep, Church of Saint Peter
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Place
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Description
The Church of Saint Peter is located in the medieval lower town of Prilep (today Varoš). It is a small single-nave church with an apse at the east end, of simple rectangular shape and modest dimensions.
Architecture
First phase of construction:
The Church of Saint Peter has a simple rectangular shape and modest dimensions. The building is terminated with a striking elliptical apse on the east side. At the northern end, there are two more small niches (one rectangular niche recessed into the mass of the apse, and another elliptical niche designed for protheses). The main characteristic of the interior space of the church is its height. The only entrance to the church is from its western side. The facades are designed as flat surfaces, emphasizing their decorative treatment. This is most evident on the north and east facades, which are intersected by horizontal ornamental bands with various motifs: a series of rhomboids in the highest zone and simplified meanders alternating with rows executed in cloisonné technique. The lower zones are constructed with rough stone masonry.
Parallels: Church of Saint Demetrios in Prilep (the latest construction phase); Church of Saint Nicholas in Prilep (the second construction phase), and the Church of Saint Elijah in the village of Grnčari
Dating: most likely dated from the end of the 13th century.
Comment: In earlier scholarship, it was posited that the construction of the Church of Saint Peter took place during the 14th century. However, more recent analyses of the church's architectural features have led to a revision of this view, suggesting a more precise dating to the late 13th century. The examination of the church's conceptual design, layout, ceramic ornamentation, and construction techniques has revealed significant affinities with architectural styles prevalent in the 13th century.
Reconstruction/Renovation: The church underwent significant damage at an unknown time after its construction. The structural system was reconstructed, and the southern wall of the church was completely enclosed. The restored sections were built with stone, which distinguishes them from the other original walls.
Dating: there is no information about the reconstruction of the church
Painted Decoration: The remains of the frescoes are in very poor condition
Parallels: Theotokos Prečista in Prilep
Dating: the end of the 14th century
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Prilep, Monastery of Treskavac
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Place
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Description
The monastery of the Holy Virgin known as Treskavac is located at a ten-kilometre distance from Prilep, below a rocky mountain peak. The oldest part of its katholikon, dedicated to the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God, dates back to the end of the twelfth century or the first half of the thirteenth century, whereas considerable construction works in the same church were carried out during the reign of Andronikos II and several decades later, between 1330 and 1350. The katholikon of the Treskavac Monastery is a complex architectural ensemble. The appearance of the church is the result of numerous constructions, alterations, demolitions, and renovations over the centuries. The spatial plan and structure of the church consist of several architectural units: the main church (altar and naos) with a narthex. Along the southern side of the church, the southern nave extends the entire length, while on the northern side, there is a northern side chapel, and on the western side, a two-domed narthex is situated. To this layout of the church, two additional spatial units are added - a southeast chapel and an enclosed porch encompassing the western and southern sides of the church complex.
Architecture
First phase of construction: The oldest building in the present church complex is the main church with a narthex. It has a compact inscribed cross plan, topped by a dome.
Parallels: Church of St. Archangel Michael in Prilep
Dating: the end of the 12th century or during the first half of the 13th century
Comment: The basis for dating consists of the typological characteristics of architecture and the results of archaeological research. In 1959, six graves were discovered on the southern side of the church, more precisely beneath the foundation of the later-built southern nave and in the southern part of the subsequently constructed porch. These graves date back to the period from the 10th to the 12th century, at the latest until the middle of the 13th century.
Second phase of construction: The second phase includes the construction of an elongated and narrow nave along the southern side and an exonarthex on the western side of the church. A distinct feature of this two-sided annex is the dome raised at the intersection of the southern and western naves. The construction of a two-aisled ambulatory nave adjacent to the Treskavac church belongs to the architectural corpus of the Palaiologan era, characterized by intense additions of side chapels, naves, and other annexes to older church building. The façade design also reflects tendencies of late Byzantine architecture towards intricate decoration, resulting in a departure from the principles of form and structure harmony. The technique of using stone and brick in construction is not entirely regular and constitutes a combination of opus listatum and opus cloisonné. The façade decoration consists solely of ceramic plastic ornamentation limited to the tympanum area of the upper row of blind niches (motifs of a chessboard pattern, fishbone, interlace).
Parallels: Saint John Kaneo in Ohrid
Dating: The last two decades of the 13th century to the first two decades of the 14th century
Third phase of construction: the addition of the northern annex, consisting of two chambers - a single-nave chapel on the eastern side and a square bay with a dome on the western side.
Dating: between the second decade of the 14th century and 1334-1343.
Fourth phase of construction: the construction of the southeastern side chapel adjacent to the southern nave; during this time or later, an open porch on the southern side was also erected.
Dating: the middle of the 14th century
Reconstruction/Renovation:
First Renovation: the upper structure of the main church.
Dating: 1480-1490.
Second Renovation: the renovation of the sanctuary of the main church, the southern nave, and the southeastern side chapel.
Dating: 16th century
Third Renovation: renovation of the narthex.
Dating: 19th century
Painted Decoration:
First fresco layer: has not been preserved.
Second fresco layer: three frescoes in the vestibule of the main entrance to the monastery, formed on the ground floor of the bell tower constructed to the west of the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin. The frescoes were created in 1898, but there is a strong basis for the claim that they replicate the painting program depicted in the same location at the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century. 1. Theotokos in the center, crowning the Byzantine emperors Andronikos II Palaiologos and Michael IX , 2. remains of the founder's composition: a part of the head of a female figure with a halo, facing to the right, and next to her, the so-called model of the church. This is a representation of the Theotokos, and the model undoubtedly was held by the ktitor (founder), whose figure, now completely destroyed, was located opposite the figure of the Mother of God. The destroyed fresco probably depicted the Byzantine military commander Michael Glabas Tarchaneiotes, 3. the figure of archangel Michael
Dating: between 1294 and 1316.
Third fresco layer: frescoes in the exonarthex and the northern dome of the exonarthex; remnants of a royal portrait of King Dušan (repainted) on the eastern wall of the central part of the exonarthex.
Dating: 1334-1343
Fourth fresco layer: Portrait of the patron of the parekklesion (southeastern side chapel), Tepčija Gradislav, on the western wall of the parekklesion.
Dating: the middle of the 14th century
Fifth fresco layer: frescoes in the naos.
Dating: 1480-1490
Sixth fresco layer: frescoes in the sanctuary
Dating: 1570
Seventh fresco layer:
Dating: 1847-1849
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Veles, the Church of Saint Demetrius
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In the immediate vicinity of the town of Veles, that is, at the southern exit from the town along the road to Gradsko, on the right side of the leveled plateau, there is a monastery complex with a church dedicated to St. Saint Dimitri. The entire complex is surrounded by massive walls, which contain the remains of older monastery walls. The lodgings and other buildings in the monastery are from recent times. At the southern end of the monastery is the Catholicon dedicated to Saint Demetrius.
Written sources:
Only information about the history of the church is coming from the period of its reconstruction in 1855. In the inscription on the south side of the nave it states that the church was renovated and colorfully painted that year.
Description of the church:
The church consists of an altar area, a nave and a narthex. The orientation is from east to west. The central, largest part is occupied by the nave. The altar of the church keeps the same width as the nave. On the east side there is a wide semicircular apse. To the north of the apse there is a small semicircular niche of the prosthesis. The border between the nave and the narthex at the church of St. Demetrius is clearly defined by a wall, and communication between them is only through a narrow opening. The narthex of the church is made in the form of a square with small deviations in the dimensions of its four sides. It also has an upper floor. The church originally had three entrances, two on the north side and one on the west side. The entrance on the western side of the narthex was later closed, so today only the entrances on the north wall are functional, one leading to the narthex and the other directly to the nave of the church. All entrance openings are formed in an identical manner; the facade is made of brick, which in the upper part forms the arch of the opening in a radial arrangement. There are only three windows on the church. There are two windows on the north wall. The form of the third window placed in the apse of the church was radically changed and today there is a rectangular wooden window here, placed during the 19th century reconstruction. According to the width of the niche on the eastern facade, but also according to the arched segments on the inner side of the niche, the original window used to be in a shape of an arched monofora. Above the nave and the altar area is a barrel vault. The narthex has an independent structural system from the one in the nave. Its main feature is that it is built on two floors. The lower part (ground floor) is covered with a barrel vault in the east-west direction, and it is lower than the vault in the nave. Today, the upper structure above the narthex upper floor is wooden, but there are indications that it was originally different. Namely, in the four corners of the floor in the upper part, at the height of the beginning of the arches of the opening, there are the remains of the vault construction. They have a pyramidal shape (with the top turned downwards), which clearly shows that there was a cross vault here before. Later, when the cruciform vault collapsed, some of these pyramidal remains were partially added to provide horizontally leveled corner plinths for the start of a new wooden structure.
Dating architecture:
14th century (belongs to the stylistic group from the end of the XIII century)
Facade decoration:
The facades of the Church of St. Demetrius in Veles, as well as many other churches stylistically related to early Paleologan architecture, are composed of horizontal zones. The most characteristic example of this style at Saint Dimitri is the north facade. The two entrances placed on this facade have been moved to the west. The entrance to the narthex is obviously settled in vertical coordination with the other elements placed on the parts of the narthex, i.e. bell tower. The lower zone of the northern facade is coated with white lime paint, but the paint layer is thin and the structure of the wall is easy to recognize. In the lowest part, there is a plinth of roughly broken stone with occasional pieces of brick inserted. Upwards, to the end of this lower zone, masonry follows with the cloisonné technique. It is executed quite properly with two horizontal rows of bricks and two vertically placed bricks alternating with stone. The boundary between the lower and upper zones of the northern facade is marked by a horizontal toothed frieze. At the foot of the upper zone there is a series of three niches. They are formed with two rows of stepped bricks. The western one was made as a blind niche, while in the other two there are single windows. In the space between the niches there is a wide decorative frieze in opus reticulatum technique. Today, its western end is partially damaged, but it is clear that it originally extended along the entire length of the northern facade. Directly above it, on the eastern half of the facade, there is a meander frieze. The next two rows of the upper zone of the northern facade were made using the cloisonné technique. The end of the facade is decorated with a double dogtooth strip that continues to the parts of the narthex, which also marks the end of the second zone of the facade. Upwards, a third zone will be formed only on the part of the narthex.
Parallels:
The origin of the tower over the western entrance should perhaps be sought in the churches of Epirus. Facade decorations and decoration similar to the Church of the Holy Mother of God Peribleptos in Ohrid or the Church Panagia Parigoritissa in Arta.
Painting:
Recently it was discovered traces of painting in the narthex of the church. There are two scenes preserved, one is the portrait of a founder with a model of the church in his left hand, and the other scenes is part of the Last Judgment composition. The Last Judgment scenes include a man-eating fish and several sea animals.
The donor portrait is depicted on the east wall, and the Last judgment is on the north?
Dating of the painting:
The painting most likely dates from the end of the 13th century.
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