Three Christian temples in the region of Matka near Skopje

The article deals with the problem of chronological determination of three sacral edifi ces located in the middle, as well as in the highest cultural horizon of the region of Matka near Skopje. Due to the lack of historical sources, as well as preserved portions of the original fresco ensembles, the buildings are dated on the ground of their architectural features and according to the archeological fi nds discovered in their vicinity. In that regard, the church of St. Kyriake on the highest mountain post of Matka is dated in the fi rst half of the fourteenth century, the temple of St. Archangel Michael at the site of Peter’s Rock in the late twelfth, while the church dedicated to St. Saviour, as a restoration of the later, was repeatedly built in the period between the late thirteenth and the second half of the twentieth century.

The article deals with the problem of chronological determination of three sacral edifi ces located in the middle, as well as in the highest cultural horizon of the region of Matka near Skopje.Due to the lack of historical sources, as well as preserved portions of the original fresco ensembles, the buildings are dated on the ground of their architectural features and according to the archeological fi nds discovered in their vicinity.In that regard, the church of St. Kyriake on the highest mountain post of Matka is dated in the fi rst half of the fourteenth century, the temple of St. Archangel Michael at the site of Peter's Rock in the late twelfth, while the church dedicated to St. Saviour, as a restoration of the later, was repeatedly built in the period between the late thirteenth and the second half of the twentieth century.Key words: Matka, church architecture, building opus, building technique The fascinating and ultra-picturesque eco structure of the canyon Matka, grandiose by its colossal dimensions and unique by the spectacular vista of dizzy vertical lines and tamed horizontal layers, is one of the most beautiful natural ambients in the territory of Macedonia and in the wider Balkan region.Confi gured of hallucinating heights of the fi erce rocky structures, as well as of deep blue spheres of the vast water horizon, this windy and moist gorge of the Treska River is enumerated among the most luxurious sights in the natural heritage of the country.The cultural horizon of the sacral edifi ces created in the territory of Matka, on the other hand, represents a rich panorama of artistic monuments, marked by diverse architectural features and remarkable painterly attainments.Erected with the passionate skill of the anonymous builders, decorated with impressive fresco ensembles and carefully nurtured during times of wars and military invasions, they represent the most persuasive and most vivid witnesses to the historic and cultural past documented on the territory of Matka in the course of the last millennium.Among the dozen monuments created in the medieval and late medieval period, we will pinpoint some interesting remarks about three of them, situated in the middle, as well as in the highest geographic horizon of the region.
The fi rst church that deserves our attention is the one dedicated to St. Archangel Michael at the site of Peter's Rock, located some 2 km south of the village of Gorna Matka.Lying amidst the terrain abundant in archaeological remnants and surrounded by building structures from In the heavenly horizons Three Christian temples in the region of Matka near Skopje Elizabeta Dimitrova* University "Ss.Kiril and Metodij" Skopje, Faculty of Philosophy UDC 726.5.033(497.7 Skopje) DOI 10.2298/ZOG1135101D Оригиналан научни рад different historic periods, this temple is preserved in its original architectural form, manifesting remarkable spatial dimensions of what is considered to be the oldest Christian monument from the medieval era in this region. 1According to its architectural conception, the church of Saint Archangel Michael is a basilica with quite remarkable dimensions, out of which the walls up to 1 m in height are preserved (fi g. 1).It is erected in the middle portion of the fl atten plateau at the site of "Peter's rock"2 as a central sacral building in the Middle Byzantine epoch, while today is surrounded by additionally confi gured architectural elements originating from the later medieval period.According to its dimensions, this building can be enumerated among the basilicas with medium size, while according to its spatial organization it belongs to the elaborated ground plans of this architectural type from the last period of its public promotion. 3The orientation of the edifi ce is almost regular (east -west), with deviation of 10 degrees in direction towards north.The length of the basilica's ground plan is 17,35 m, whereat the longitudinal span from the apse to the western wall of the naos is 10,75 m, while the western part of the building is 6.60 m long.The width of the church is 4.90 m, while the thickness of the walls measures 0.80 m.
The church of Saint Archangel Michael as a longitudinal edifi ce spatially manifested along the axis east-west and functionally divided into two structural parts -naos and narthex.The naos measures 9.40 x 4.90 m, at the eastern part of which an apse has been formulated with a radius of 1.35 m.The narthex measures 6,60 x 4,90 m and is designed with two separate structures, which, within the functional organization of the architectural ground plan, received the roles of narthex and exonarthex.This tripartite division of the basilical plan points to a sacral edifi ce with a regular liturgical service and testifi es to the efforts for a serious protocol in the structure, as well as in the performance of the church ritual. 4n the other hand, the existence of a single apse on the eastern side of the building, being a reference of the single-apse concept in the design of the sanctuary, can point to a basilical ground plan of a compact type, appropriate to the conditions of its spatial location and/or the needs of the church function.The discovery of a massive tombstone with an epitaph written in Old Slavonic language in the central part of the naos doubtlessly refers to the existence of a medieval necropolis in the surrounding of the church walls.5All of this speaks of the possibility that the church dedicated to Saint Archangel Michael, the protector of the righteous souls and the caring physicopompus, erected in a compact basilical arrangement and accompanied by a medieval graveyard, had a funereal function and was designated for funerary ceremonies.
The temple dedicated to Saint Archangel Michael is built out of broken, partly hacked stones, arranged in horizontal rows and alternated with ceramic material, placed in irregularly designed opus.The stone peaces and the bricks were joined with a bit of mortar, applied in thin layers.The building components are placed carefully, but the building technique displays a number of inconsistencies in regard to the coherence of the execution.Due to the lack of appropriate material, the mixed building opus of the church was supplemented by older elements, originating from the architectural corpus of an Early Christian basilica. 6Among them, one can notice imposts, bases of stone columns and cancel fragments.The resourcefulness of the masters builders in solving of the problem with the scarcely available material can be seen in the usage of stone spolia from an ancient pagan temple, built into the lateral walls of the edifi ce. 7Contrary to the slackly work with the building materials, the edifi ce was covered with neatly molded and skillfully modeled bricks of a "Komnenian" type. 8The church mobiliar has not been preserved.The fresco painting has, also, been demolished.
Although the lack of historical sources and written texts is obstructing the precise dating of the church, the architectural features of its composition point to a certain chronology, which can be confi rmed only by extensive archaeological excavation at the site.In that context, one should mention the compact architectural ground plan in the design of the basilica, the monolite spatial arrangement of the altar part and the semicircular shape of the apsidal exterior, all pointing to the late twelfth century, as the most appropriate chronological horizon in the execution of the building corpus of the temple. 9A testimony to the same dating is also the rustic building technique, as well as the used bricks, the chronology of which belongs to the second half of the twelfth century. 10The last argument that speaks in favor of the mentioned chronology is the fi nding of Byzantine coins belonging to the period at the turn of the thirteenth century. 11In that sense, we can assume that the church of Saint Archangel Michael (today dedicated to the Holy Trinity) is a monument created in the era of the Comnenoi that refl ects the characteristic architectural traditions from the last decades of the twelfth century and bears the features of the last phase of the Middle Byzantine creative production.Erected in the sundown of a wealthy and productive period from the history of Byzantine architecture on the Balkan's territory, the temple dedicated to Saint Archangel Michael at the site of Peter's Rock is representative of the last creative moments prior to the collapse of the Empire in 1204 and of the fi nal cultural and artistic performances of the Middle Byzantine epoch.
Fifty meters north from the temple dedicated to Saint Archangel Michael, the church of Saint Savior is located, which, according to its present architectural confi guration, belongs to the second half of the twentieth century and on the ground of the disposable data written on the commissioners' board located above the entrance, was erected in 1968. 12The church is of a small size and robustly built with inserted spolia from older edifi ces, while in its surroundings, a number of elements of building material from the medieval and post-medieval period has been discovered (fi g. 2). 13ll these references point to the conclusion that the existing church is a contemporary renewal of an older edifi ce, for the precise dating of which no available data can be found.Written sources that could help in the disclosure of the oldest history of the original church at this location are missing.Archeological material that would point to a certain cultural horizon, i. e. to a certain chronological determination, has not been found yet.
The contemporary church is erected with a singlenaved ground plan, with a tri-sided apse on the eastern side.The length of the edifi ce is 7.50 m., while the width is 4,10 m.It is built out of pieces of roughly chopped stone that are marked by highly unproportional dimensions and reduced usage of mortar.The stones are mostly laid in horizontal rows, but due to their irregular shape, the rhythm of their arrangement is quite disturbed.Among the stones which are very different in size, elements of older building material found in the vicinity were inserted, originating from Antiquity and from the medieval period.In that sense, by its dimensions, a quite massive fragment of an architrave stands out, 14 built into the western part of the south wall; it most probably originates from the sanctuary of an Early Christian basilica, confi rmed by the Latin inscription in its upper part, marked by epigraphical features from the fi fth- sixth century. 15The same date is shared by the peace of a cancel screen found next to the church. 16ue to the rustic character of its architectural execution, the church of Saint Savior displays a very modest façade design.On the lateral walls, perforations were open (one on each façade), roughly and unskillfully framed with mortar, while above the west entrance -a semi-circular niche was shaped in order to provide a place for the traditional image of the church patron.The eastern exterior of the temple is designed identically as the other façade surfaces, thus it also lacks any brick-work decoration.The outer line of the trisided apse is monotonous as well, with the exception of the miniature monophore in its center.Only the dado-zone in the exterior of the church preserved up to 0.50 m in height is quite impressive by its execution.
The distinction in the applied material between the dado-zone and the rest of the edifi ce, the consistency in the placement of the stone elements and the greater proportionality of their dimensions, as well as the fact that the dadozone is 0.40 m wider than the total width of the facades, clearly point to the older chronology of this part of the architectural structure of the edifi ce.The execution of this lower belt of the building's exterior refers to some of the recognizable features of the architecture from the Post-Byzantine period.This chronology, however, can not be confi rmed by painterly references, since it is obvious that the church has not been decorated with frescoes; however, its interior is ornamented with a number of specimens from icon painting of contemporary zographs, as well as reproductions of famous works of art from the medieval and post-medieval era.Thus, a comfortable and pleasant ambient is created for the many believers or adventurers, who visit the church on their journeys through the canyon of Matka.
The lack of historical sources or written data, which would probably help the construction of an argumented story on the origin of the genuine church of Saint Savior, could be, to a certain extent, substituted by our knowledge gained from literature and travelogues.Hence, we know that in the fi rst decade of the twentieth century, on the location of present-day temple, there were ruins of an older church and a great number of architectural elements in a form of chopped stones, molded bricks, decorated plastic components and carved lintels, scattered all over the terrain. 17The older scholars made a difference between the robust building opus applied on the preserved part of the south wall of the church that in 1912 was still existent on the site and the relatively delicate execution of the found stone fragments, produced in the spirit of the Byzantine architectural tradition. 18Thus, one can conclude that the present-day church dedicated to Saint Savior has undergone two phases prior to 1968, which can not be precisely determined; still they can be roughly put in certain chronological boundaries.
In that context, if we take into consideration all the available components mentioned in the literature or noticed in the course of our terrain explorations, we can reconstruct the time frame of the architectural activities undertaken on the fl at plateau at the site of Peter's Rock.Namely, the oldest phase would be simultaneous with the erection of the church dedicated to Saint Archangel Michael, located in the central part of the terrain and built in the late period of the Komnenian epoch, 19 which marks the last bloom of the artistic creativity within Middle Byzantine chronological horizon.The easy access to the terrain and the chaotic historic occurrences of the next century that did not pass by the Skopje area,20 are the probable reasons for the demolition of the temple and for its further religious "hibernation".After the pacifi cation of the circumstances and consolidation of the real-estate and administrative conditions that brought the new feudal lords and new political authorities on the territory of Skopje and its surroundings, the site of Peter's Rock was also included in the new initiatives for production of religious edifi ces and their architectural setting.
It was than, when the old temple of Saint Archangel Michael was probably neglected to a greater extent in favor of the new edifi ce, erected at the distance of 50 m in smaller dimensions, yet in the spirit of the renewed commissioners' privileges, as well as the re-established initiatives for undertaking of new artistic enterprises.The exact time of the transfer of the religious performances from the older into the new edifi ce can not be established without additional data; however, the knowledge on the renewed fl ourishing of architectural activities after the Serbian invasion in the northern parts of Macedonian territory could point to the reinforced architectural production of smaller sacral edifi ces in the lower spatial horizons of the canyon Matka,21 where the site of Peter's Rock also lies.This hypothetically assumed phase of the architectural structure of the church of Saint Savior, which could be chronologically placed in the late thirteenth or the early fourteenth century and has been confi rmed by delicately processed stone elements discovered in the surrounding area, 22 was probably demolished at the beginning of the Ottoman period, when a great number of religious edi- After the circumstances improved, the ruined church was rebuilt in a much modest architectural shape and with a much more rustic building technique, the testimony to which is the skillfully created dado-zone, preserved in the lower part of the facades that probably originates from the opulent in sacral architecture seventeenth century,23 the time when smaller religious edifi ces arose at the locations of the older medieval temples.At the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Post-Byzantine temple found itself located on the estate bought by some of the Muslims living on the territory of the canyon, the edifi ce was once again demolished, an argument already mentioned in the literature. 24After the circumstances at this site have changed, at the location of the older temple the contemporary church was erected in 1968, which is the sole whiteness to the centuries-long, persistent survival of the Orthodox faith at a territory marked by the eternal and immortal sacral values.The names of the commissioners, written on the plate located above the entrance, are the last and most relevant historic argument on the almost millennium-long existence and the multiple ktetorial renewal of the church of Saint Saviour.
Two kilometers north-eastern of the site of Peter's Rock, on the highest post of the mountain range oriented transversally to the fl ow of the Treska River, the small church of Saint Kyriake is located, today heavily devastated, tragically ruined and preserved only in modest architectural and painterly remnants (fi gs.3-5).Erected by an unknown ktetor in the savage and inhospitable rocky palms of the ridge Osoj, this miniature temple is one of the most diffi cult to access sacral locations on the territory of Medieval Macedonia.Elevated, as it was noticed by its earliest visitors at a "frightening position",25 at a dizzy vertical spot that hangs over the surrounding terrain without any horizontal support, the church of Saint Kyriake is a true example of a sacral edifi ce situated on a location that aims at the unreachable heights, protected by the horrifying uneasiness of its own geographical ambientum.Situated on the central rocky plateau in the middle of the medieval "town of King Marko",26 it represented local sanctuary for its citizens, spiritual refugee for the dedicated believers, as well as save heaven for the brave travelers and adventurers.
The church of Saint Kyriake is erected at the top of a cliff that mounts vertically at the left bank of the Treska River, at its entrance in the gorge.Built on the fl at surface of the plateau in the south-eastern part of the urban settlement and erected over the very abyss, hundreds of meters above the hallucinatory landscape of the deep canyon, the church of Saint Kyriake testifi es to the thrilling craftsmanship of the architects and represents a remarkable creative achievement in the architectural production of the medieval epoch.Although preserved in ruins and decorated with heav- According to its ground plan, the church of Saint Kyriake is a cruciform edifi ce (cross in square design), once covered by a dome. 27Due to the reduced spatial opportunities, it was erected in a small size and executed as an edifi ce of a compact architectural type, which implied maximum use of the terrain circumstances in favor of the pragmatic constructive solution.Hence, the total length of the church measures 6.50 m, while the width is 4.05 m.These miniature dimensions of the building were chosen as ideal not only for its spatial exposition, but also for its appropriate ambiental inclusion within the exterior design of the urban structures in the town of King Marko.Located on the city plateau and accompanied by residential objects and other elements of the urban infrastructure, 28 the church represented the main religious point in the settlement, fulfi lling the essential needs of its ktetor and his fellow citizens.
In regard to its architectural matrix, the temple dedicated to Saint Kyriake is single-naved and composed of a central bay with dimensions: 2,40 x 2,40 m, originally covered by a dome.Today, the only testimony to the existence of the dome are the remnants of the pendantives in the eastern part (fi g. 5), as well the spatial design of the ground plan, which displays the construction of a bay in the area under the dome, accomplished by reduction of the width of the lateral walls of the edifi ce.On the ground of the church's dimensions, as well as on the ground of the data found in older-date literature, the dome was cubical in the exterior and its angles were strengthened by stone collonetes. 29The dome rested on pilasters, constructed over the lateral walls, as well as on the arches, partially preserved on the eastern side.Hence, one can suppose that the small dome dominated over the central part of the church, while to the east and to the west of it, the architectural space was covered with narrow barrel vaults, located transversally to the longitudal axis of the edifi ce.To the east, the sanctuary was formulated with tri-sided apse in the exterior, while in the interior of the temple, two miniature niches laterally of the apse, enabled the function of a prothesis and diakonikon.
When the remnants of the edifi ce come to question, one can notice that the north wall of the edifi ce along its full length, the southern half of the apsidal conch, the southern wall up to the point where the western cota of the central bay ended and a small portion of the western wall in its northern line, are preserved out of the original architectural structure of the church.The highest point of the preserved building structure, which is a part of the genuine eastern arch under the dome, can be 27 Popović, Prilog, 116. 28Lilčić, Markov grad -Matka, 286. 29Popović, Prilog, 116.seen at the height of 4.12 m, while the preserved walls of the temple are 0.70 m in width and were composed of shopped stone peaces, joined with mortar and alternated with ceramic material of older, antique provenance.The building opus was organized in horizontal rows, with serious deviations from the regularity in the execution.The preserved parts of the original walls do not display brick-work decoration; the only remnants of architectural elaboration are the thin lesenae that refl ect the interior design on the facades of the edifi ce.Also, it is noticeable that the northern wall was perforated twice and the two windows were placed one above the other.
The overall conception of the design and execution of the building emanates simplicity and compactness of the architectural matrix.Small by its dimensions and rational by the spatial qualities, pragmatically conceived and materialized as a miniature, yet monolite architectural organism, the church of Saint Kyriake stood at the plateau of the town of King Marko, distinguishing itself with its unpretentious building vista.Erected in a form of a small cubus covered by a cubical dome and enclosed by rustically executed facades, it successfully resisted the savage winds of destruction from the high, almost frightening position of its spatial location.Although the interior of the temple does not contain any ktetorial inscription, the organization of the ground plan and the manner of the applied building technique unambiguously point to the fi rst half or the middle of the fourteenth century. 30On the pick of the dome a bronze cross was once positioned measuring 0.40 m. which, after the demolition of the vault portions, was brought to the Church Museum of the Skopje Metropolitan eparchy. 31he fresco decoration applied on the walls of the church is devastated to a great extent, mostly due to the demolition of the dome and the damages done to the wall structures.As a result, only small portions of the original painting are preserved, mainly in the eastern part of the edifi ce.Out of the genuine fresco ensemble designed for the decoration of the interior, one can see parts of the altar arrangement, fragments of the compositions depicted on the lateral walls, as well as several saintly images, recognizable in the eastern parts of the north and south wall surfaces.These preserved portions from the painted decoration are highly damaged and pale, whereat the pictures are visible only in silhouettes.According to the degree of demolition, it is clear that after the destruction of the vault structures, the atmospheric conditions caused erosion to the painterly pigment, which could indicate that the colors were applied on a dry surface.Hence, the massive devastation of the painterly structure comes as no surprise, since the al secco technique is highly sensitive to the atmospheric moist, as well as to the drastic amplitudes of aerial climate. 32ut of the genuine painterly program in the temple, one can see that a part of the composition depicting Offi ciating Church Fathers is preserved on the semi-circular surface of the apse, in which the bishops attain the ceremony in honor of the sacrifi ced Christ.Although the preserved elements are not suffi cient for a complete reconstruction of the scene, the dimensions and the position of the bishopric fi gure in the southern part of the apsidal wall imply a chamber format in the execution of the Liturgical Service, appropriate to the spatial opportunities, restricted by the modest diameter of the altar apse.On the pilasters west of the sanctuary, the fi gures of two stilites are depicted, the signatures of whom are highly devastated, thus, the inscriptions verifi ed in the olderdate literature <styi si>meony i <styi> danily, 33 are no longer readable.Represented on the top of their pillars, carefully decorated with geometric ornaments, the two wellrespected representatives of this saintly category gained signifi cantly festal location within the painted decoration of the temple. 34The saintly busts, depicted above them in the second zone of the fresco arrangement, due to the heavily damage caused to the decoration, can not be identifi ed.In the upper zone of the northern wall, one can barely see the 30 Korunovski,Dimitrova,Macedonia,[112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122]   pale remnants of the composition, once identifi ed as the Crucifi xion. 35The best visible peace of the fresco painting that decorated the walls of the church is the portrait of the patron saint, represented in the central part of the southern wall, in the second zone (fi gs.6-7). Alough the signature written beside her image is completely wasted, the typological characteristics of the depiction are relatively well preserved, refl ecting the recognizable vista of St. Kyriake, discovered in a number of other monument in the territory of the Balkans.Depicted in an elegant stance and dressed in luxurious attire that refl ects her noble origin, 36 she holds her martyrial cross in the right hand, while with the left she refi nely expresses her sacral feeling to the believers at their approach towards the sanctuary.On the long dress she wears, one can notice execution of a rich ornamental decoration with an emulation of luxurious embroidery in golden color.The red color of the dress, the yellow geometrical fi elds in shape of rhombs and the stylized fl oral motives of lilies fi ll the soft, palatial fabric with the glamorous glow of the Byzantine "couture".In the upper part, the dress ends with a peace of cloth that covers her neck, luxuriously decorated with large pearls, while on her head, St. Kyriake wears a crown made out of two metal rings, crisscrossed on the forehead and attached to the fi rm fabric underneath.Under the crown, there is a light, bright in color veil, running down St. Kyriake's shoulders and covering her hair.
The image of St. Kyriake, depicted in the church in King Marko's town at Matka, refl ects the typological features in the presentation of this martyr saint in the fresco painting from the fourteenth century, displaying notifying similarities with her other portraits found in the monuments on the territory of Macedonia.In that regard, according to the visual characteristics of the crown, her portrait from Matka fi nds analogies in the image of St. Kyriake depicted in the narthex of the church dedicated to the Mother of God in the village of Kučevište (1332-1337), 37 in her portrait represented in the naos of Saint George in Gorni Kozjak (ca.1340), 38 as well as in the image of the same saint in the narthex of the temple dedicated to the Virgin in Mateič (1348-1352), 39 while the luxurious attire of the patron saint of Matka has its parallel in the dress of St. Kyriake depicted on the northern wall in the naos of Saint George in Pološko (1343-1345). 40In that sense, the portrait of St. Kyriake from her temple in Matka could be compared with the depictions of this saint in the fresco painting of the monuments from the fi rst half of the fourteenth century, in which she was represented within the gallery of lady saints.However, due to her role of a patron and titular saint of her church in King Marko's town, her image in the fresco decoration of Matka glows with much more remarkable distinction of the spatial, as well as iconographical elements in comparison to the other mentioned monuments.Unfortunately, the components of the jewelry, noticeable in her images in the other monuments from the fourteenth century, due to the massive demolition of the frescoes in the church of Saint Kyriake, have become completely unrecognizable.
On the ground of our insight in the existent literature and its illustrative contribution, it can be stated that the portrait of St. Kyriake in the church at Matka was a part of the ktetor's composition, depicted on the southern wall (fi g. 8). 41owever, due to the long-term neglect of the building, the part of the painted decoration applied to the west of the patron saint's image, where older scholars located the depiction of the commissioner with the church model, has been demolished. 42Because of that, the effort for any reconstruction of the ktetorial arrangement or its conception, which would lead to more serious analysis of the sociologic features of the church of Saint Kyriake is no longer possible.The lack of ktetorial inscription or genuine written documents, are also in favor of the highly mysterious historical dimension of the temple and of its fi nancial patrons.The data on the real-estate ownership of the nobleman Bojko over the region of Matka, 43 as well as the chronological concurrence of its territorial authority over this important strategic location with the closest painterly analogies of the church's fresco decoration, are not suffi cient references to the ktetorial attribution of the fresco painting in the temple to this powerful and respectable aristocrat.
In regard to the painterly features of the fresco painting executed in the temple, one can discuss their quality solely on the ground of the badly preserved parts of the decoration, which give small evidence to the program concept, as well as to the stylistic characteristics of the frescoes.However, the preserved parts indicate the basic structure of the fresco decoration, which, besides the dome arrangement (demolished due to the collapse of the vaults) and the altar program with the portion of the Liturgical Service, included also the illustration of the Great Feasts in the upper zone of the walls, the saintly busts in the middle register and the gallery of saints in the lowest horizon of the ensemble.Due to the modest spatial capacity of the church's interior, the exposition of the Festal cycle was, most probably, reduced to eight scenes, out of which, the heavily damaged parts of the Crucifi xion (northern wall), as well as a small fragment of an unrecognizable composition depicted in the central part of the southern wall are preserved. 44On the pilasters, as main supportive elements of the edifi ce, the images of the stillites were depicted with their symbolical role of uncompromising pillars of the fait, while on the most festal position on the southern wall -the patron saint was represented as accepting the ktetorial gift in a shape of a church replica from her generous donor, the image of whom has been lost long ago in the merciless abyss of destruction and oblivion.
The stylistic features of the painting point to a master with a precise drawing and clearly formulated contour, whose painterly procedure was based upon the fi rm mod-elation of the shapes and large formats of the depicted scenic components.In the execution of the saintly fi gures, he employed an elegant stature of the personages, dressed in rich fabrics, depicted with broad strokes and skillfully ornamented decorative elements.Although the fragmentarily preserved images and compositions do not help to see his approach to the structuring of the facial features of the saints, nor the manner of confi guration of the dynamics and dramacity of the illustrated events, one can clearly notice the painterly energy of the zograph, manifested in the precisely modeled fi gural anatomy, as well as in the pictorial freshness of the applied pigment.These stylistic characteristics of the painting on one hand, and the mentioned analogies with the monuments from the fi rst half of the fourteenth century on the other, doubtlessly point to the fi rst decades of that century as the most adequate period for the origination of the fresco painting in the church of Saint Kyriake.The data on the reference to this temple in the charter of King Milutin issued to the monastery of Saint George Gorgos in Skopje (from the year of 1300) also speak in favor of the assumption for the chronological determination of the church in the fi rst decades of the fourteenth century. 45The choice of the architectural ground plan of a compact cross in square, the manner of construction and the elaboration of the facades with narrow lesenes refl ecting the inner spatial structure of the edifi ce, 46 are additional references to the probable chronology of the church of Saint Kyriake that belongs to the opening decades of the fourteenth century.

Fig. 1 .
Fig. 1.The church of St. Archangel Michael, an overall view of the structure

Fig. 2 .
Fig. 2. The church of St. Saviour, a view from the north-east

Fig. 3 .
Fig. 3.The church of St. Kiriake, eastern arch, south-eastern pendentive and the preserved part of the southern wall