P230 - Macedonia - Monastery St. Panteleimon

Monastery St. Panteleimon, Nerezi, Skopje, Macedonia

Skopje is the capital of and largest city in the Republic of Macedonia, with more than a quarter of the population of the country, as well as its political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. It was known in the Roman period under the name Scupi. The city developed rapidly after World War II, but this trend was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake. Today Skopje is a modern city with a wide range of cultural monuments.

Skopje is located at 42°0′N 21°26′E , on the upper course of the Vardar River and is located on a major north-south Balkan route between Belgrade and Athens. According to the 2002 census, it has approximately 500 000 inhabitants and is a center for metal-processing, chemical, timber, textile, leather, and printing industries. Industrial development of the city has been accompanied by development of the trade, logistics, and banking sectors, as well as an emphasis on the fields of culture and sport.

The Church of St. Panteleimon in Gorno Nerezi, Republic of Macedonia, is a small 12th century Byzantine church located in a monastery complex. The church and monastery are dedicated to St. Panteleimon, the patron saint of physicians.

The church was constructed in 1164 as a foundation of Alexius Angelus Comnenus, a son of Constantine Angelos and Theodora Komnene, a daughter of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.

The church has a domed cruciform core, three apses and a rectangular narthex. It is built of irregular stone blocks and brick embedded in thick layers of mortar. The surrounding monastery complex is enclosed by walls.

The frescoes in the church are famous examples of Comnenian Age Byzantine Art, depicting scenes from the Passion of Christ and various hagiographical illustrations. Similar compositions appear in the Latomou monastery in Thessaloniki. The church was damaged by an earthquake in the 16th century. In the restoration that followed, some of the frescoes in the upper middle region have been repainted. The original marble iconostasis survived the earthquake, but lost its decorative plastic art.

In another restoration attempt in 1885, the larger part of the frescoes in the naos were painted over rather ineptly. During cleaning in 1923, some of the original 12th century frescoes were restored.

The coloring, dramatic composition and purity of expression displayed in the frescoes are outstanding examples of Macedonian medieval monumental painting in the later 12th century.

The church's stucco decoration is depicted on the obverse of the Macedonian 50 denars banknote, issued in 1996.

斯科普里（马其顿语：Скопје）是馬其頓共和國的首都。位於瓦尔达尔河（Vardar）上游，是馬其頓的政治、經濟及文化中心；也是金屬處理、化學、木材、紡織、皮革及印刷工業的中心。工業發展帶動了對內及對外的貿易、以至銀行業的急速發展，也推動了文化及體育活動。根据1994年人口普查结果，斯科普里有人口444,299，它由7个市镇构成。这7个市镇是：Gazi Baba、Gjorce Petrov、Karpos、Kisela Voda、Centar、Cair、Suto Orizari。

St. Panteleimon大教堂是马其顿最古老最重要的教堂之一，举世闻名的12世纪壁画-基督的悲哀也在这座修道院里，并且他的雕刻在教堂门口上方大理石中的名字是不朽的。这都要归功于St. Panteleimon，人类健康的保护者。

References sources : Wikipedia