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Skopje, Upper Town, Church of the Holy Virgin with its Residence
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The Serbian king Stefan Uroš II Milutin confirmed and donated landed property to the Monastery of St. George-Gorg near Skopje in the year 1300. In his charter he is mentioning the Upper Town of Skopje with its fortifications and other buildings, amongst others the Church of the Holy Virgin (црьквь светаа богородица): вьнѹтрь града скопиꙗ при вратѣхь великыхь полата и црьквь светаа богородица еже ѥсть придаль монахь ксенофонть. This church and its residence (полата), which were given by the monk Ksenofont to the Monastery, were to be found in the vicinity of the "Great Gate" (при вратѣхь великыхь). In systematic excavations in the Upper Town (Kale) from 2007 until 2012 a cross-shaped church (13th-14th cent.) was discovered in the south-eastern section of the Upper Town (i.e. excavation Kale VII). Perhaps these remnants are to be identified with the Church of the Holy Virgin.
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Skopje, Upper Town, Cross-Shaped Church
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In systematic excavations in the Upper Town (Kale) from 2007 until 2012 a cross-shaped church (13th-14th cent.) was discovered in the south-eastern section of the Upper Town (i.e. excavation Kale VII). Perhaps these remnants are to be identified with the Church of the Holy Virgin, which is mentioned in the charter of the Serbian king Stefan Uroš II Milutin to the Monastery of St. George-Gorg near Skopje in the year 1300 (вьнѹтрь града скопиꙗ при вратѣхь великыхь полата и црьквь светаа богородица еже ѥсть придаль монахь ксенофонть). This church was documented by Mihailo Popović during his survey in Skopje from 13 June 2016 until 30 June 2016.
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Skopje, Upper Town, Monastery of Saint Nicetas
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The Byzantine Co-Emperor Michael IX Palaiologos mentioned the Monastery of Saint Nikita near Skopje in the years 1299/1300 (πλησίον [τῶν Σκοπίων] εὑρίσ[κετ]αι μοναστή[ριον εἰς ὄνο]μα τιμώμενον τοῦ Ἁγίου μεγαλομάρτ[υ]ρος Νικήτα). In 1299/1300 or 1308 a Serbian version of a charter by Andronikos II Palaiologos - at the instigation of the Serbian King Stefan Uroš II Milutin - confirmed the donations made by Michael IX (ō priloženi ježe vь Skopi cr(ь)kva S(ve)t(a)go m(u)č(e)nika Nikiti vь metohiju).
It could well be that the scribe of the aforesaid Slavonic charter localised the Monastery of Saint Nikita wrongly in the vicinity of the Upper Town of Skopje, while it is to be found to the NW outside of the town, which is indicated by the Byzantine charter. The forged Transcript A of the Collective Charter of Stefan Uroš II Milutin for the Chilandar monastery reports that the deserted Monastery of Saint Nikita was found and re-erected by the Serbian king (I ōbrěte kraljevьstvo mi manastyrь zapustělь vь Skopʼskoi straně Svetago Nikitu ōtьčьstva mojego i napravihь jego). He donated it afterwards to to Tower of Hrusija near the Chilandar monastery (a Svetago Nikitu dahь mojemu pirʼgu sь vʼsěmь jego utʼvrьždenijemь).
The Church has an elongated cross-in-square plan, with a dome and interior which is divided into nine bays. The four bays that form a cross are barrel-vaulted. The calotte of the dome (made of brick) rests upon a high octagonal drum. The specific design of the sanctuary, which consists of the eastern arm of the cross, a short narrow bay and a semicircular apse, was imitated in Serbian fourteenth-century architecture, especially in Churches founded by noblemen.
The façades were built in alternating layers of bricks and ashlars. Also, the façade walls of the church are decorated with blind arches that rest on lesenes.
As supposed by researchers the Church was built by Byzantine master builders (influence came from the nearby Thessaloniki like the Church of Saint Panteleimon, the small Church of the Holy Saviour and the Church of the Panagia Elassona Olympiotissa in Elassona).
The building was fresco decorated in the 14th century (after 1321) by Michael Astrapas, the famous Thessalonian painter of the Palaiologan era, and his associates .
The Church had a parakklesion once situated in the Eastern section of the South wall and was dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and was fresco painted in the 16th century. It was a single nave edifice with the width greater than the length and it was demolished in 1928.
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Skopje, Upper Town, Royal Palace
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In systematic excavations in the Upper Town (Kale) from 2007 until 2012 remnants of a royal residence of the Serbian rulers (13th-14th cent.) were discovered on the highest point of the Upper Town (cf. excavation Kale VII), which was the most representative building in the medieval Upper Town and was destroyed during the Ottoman conquest at the end of the 14th century. This excavation was documented by Mihailo Popović during his survey in Skopje from 13 June 2016 until 30 June 2016.
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