Description
The Church of St. Nicholas is located in the medieval lower town of Prilep (today Varoš). It is situated a few hundred meters away from the medieval marketplace, at the foot of the medieval fortress known as the "Markovi kuli." It is a small single-aisled building with an externally three-sided apse. The lower part of the building is constructed with roughly cut stone, including spolia, while the upper part is built of stone and brick. The significant differences in construction and treatment between the lower and upper parts of the facades are the result of two construction phases. The frescoes inside the Church of St. Nicholas consist of two stylistically different parts, found in the altar apse and the nave. The dedicatory inscription above the southern doors of the church reveals that the frescoes in the nave were commissioned by Vego Kapza and his wife Maria in 1298.
Architecture
The first phase of construction:
The high stone base belongs to the first construction phase of the Church of St. Nicholas (2.6m), made of rough-hewn stone of various dimensions and several rectangular marble blocks used as spolia. These are the remains of a small single-aisled church, built with rough stone.
Parallels: In the older layer of the building, there are no stylistic or any other elements that could clearly indicate the construction period. The simplicity of their plan and the construction material suggest that they were built by local craftsmen. Similarities have been observed with objects of domestic architecture from the second half of the 12th century, whose remains have been found in the area of the present-day settlement of Varoš.
Dating: end of the 12th century
The second phase of construction:
The upper part of the church, set on a high stone base, corresponds to the second construction phase. The predominant characteristic of the interior space is the dominance of height over the length of the church. The facade surfaces are entirely covered with ceramic plastic decoration. The quality of the exterior is emphasized by continuous horizontal bands made of various brick motifs, representing a distinctive feature of late Byzantine, and particularly Epirote architecture.
Parallels: St. John Kaneo in Ohrid; the Church of the Theotokos Peribleptos in Ohrid; the Church of Christ the Savior in Borje, near Korcha (Koresha), Albania; Panagia (the Panagia Kyriotissa and Ag. Theodoroi) in Preventza, Greece; Ag. Vassileios stin Gefyra in Arta, the Narthex of the Church of Ag. Theodora in Arta.
Dating: ca. 1285-1295
Painted Decoration
The first fresco unit: consists of frescoes in the altar apse and the lunette of the western facade. A conservative artistic approach was applied, based on expressive means inherited from the Comnenian art, but adapted in a provincial spirit of the second half of the 13th century.
Parallels: St. John Kaneo in Ohrid; the Church of St. Nicholas in the village of Manastir in Mariovo; the Church of St. Demetrios in Prilep; the Church of St. George Omorphoklisias near Kastoria
Dating: third quarter of the 13th century, or 1298
The second fresco unit: consists of frescoes in the naos. The work of the two painters has been assessed as a fusion of old and new concepts during the stylistically transitional period of the late 13th century.
Parallels: Virgin Mavriotissa in Kastoria; Vlacherna monastery in Arta; The Church of Archangel Michael in Kostaniani near Ioannina; the Church of Taxiarches in Kostaniani near Ioannina; Ag. Demetrios Katsouris in Plissioi near Arta.
Dating: 1298