|
Novi Pazar (Ras), Church of St. Peter
|
Place
|
|
|
The Church of St. Peter in Ras was built by order of the Serbian Prince Mutimir (reigned 851-891) around 870-890 on a hill of Stari Ras ("Old Ras"), in today’s city of Novi Pazar. (VĐ ŽSN., 18 i 19 - se v'toroje kr'Štenije prijeti ... u V'seslavnyju ... Petra i Pavla). However, the latest research refutes the previous beliefs that the church was built by Prince Mutimir in 870, but much earlier, probably around 820, by Prince Radoslav. It seems that Prince Mutimir restored the building approximately six decades later, making it an episcopal seat (the church was most likely destroyed in one of the two Bulgarian campaigns against Serbia). It was decorated with fresco paintings at the beginning of the 10th century with the merit of the Serbian Prince Petar Gojniković (reigned 892-918).
The building, made from sandstone and travertine, is a rotunda encircling an irregular tetraconch (with the fact that the conch on the Eastern side, intended for the altar space, had a different shape and a larger area than the other three conchs) with vaults in the form of semicircles. Above the central area is a dome which is octagonal on the outside. The Eastern conch served as an altar, while on its Northern, Western and Southern sides the rotunda is embraced by a horseshoe-like ambulatory above which are galleries looking onto the nave, which served as a catechumenate or matroneum. The rotunda constructed on the described foundation was surrounded on all sides, except in the east, by a nave, which was divided by radial walls into five "rooms", interconnected by passages. The outer wall of the nave was adjacent to the circular wall of the rotunda. On the exterior, the edifice resembles pre-Romanesque style, with shallow arched niches placed on the upper part of the drum and the lateral wall of the rotunda, along the apse. Niches can be seen in the interior as well.
The baptismal piscina, hollowed out in front of the southeast pilaster of the rotunda, points to the conclusion that St. Peter's church was partly intended for baptisms. The church simultaneously functioned as a court chapel.
The only preserved sculptural decorations inside and around blind niches in the interior of the church are floral and geometrical motifs along with crosses engraved into fresh plaster.
The fresco paintings have mostly faded. Today some of the decoration can be seen in the drum with five scenes associated with Christ’s nativity and childhood (Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi and Presentation at the Temple). In the squinches, one can see parts of scenes of the Baptism and Betrayal of Christ, and on the Western wall, below the drum, parts of the Crucifixion. All compositions were framed with wide bands, rimmed with red. On elongated figures, red-violet and yellow-golden tones prevail. The background is mostly golden, while grey is seen once it progresses towards the top. Art historians believe that Byzantine masters were hired to decorate the church (they also find similarities with the Church of St. Stephen in Kastoria and the Church of Transfiguration near Koropi, Attica).
|