Morodvis is a village in Zrnovci municipality, located in the base of mountain

Plačkovica Plačkovica () is a mountain located the eastern part of North Macedonia, it extends between the cities of Radoviš, and Vinica. The highest peak is Lisec () at 1,754 m, the length of main valley slopes of the peak Lisec is 34 km. The valley of ...

, south of Kočani, North Macedonia.

History

The village is the site of Crkvište-Morobizdon, a complex archaeological site of late-

antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...

and medieval significance. The village was inhabited from the 5th to 7th centuries, when it was abandoned after the 7th century. A church dating from the 5th century was discovered on this location, with a tomb as its centre. With its marble flooring and pillars and capitals decorated with medieval motifs, it has been concluded that this church represents a great example of the highest technical level of construction and decoration. In the 9th century, the

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

settled in the area. From the 10th to the 15th century, the settlement was a religious center of the Bregalnica region. Under the reign of

Samuel Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...

it became a bishopric center in the framework of the

Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid The Archbishopric of Ohrid, also known as the Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid *T. Kamusella in The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe, Springer, 2008, p. 276 *Aisling Lyon, Decentralisation and the Management of Ethni ...

. The prosperity of the city of the Morobizdon and Morodvis bishopric ended towards the end of the 12th century, when the Serbian church became dominant in the region. A Romanesque church was also discovered, and it originates from this period. The church is an example of the medieval architectural concept,

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

-painted, with flooring made in sextuple technique and church furniture made of

carved stone Stone carving is an activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was created during our prehistory or past time. Work carried ...

. During the 13th century, a new smaller church was built on the site of the older church, around which a necropolis was discovered, dating between the 12th and the 19th centuries, with more than 350 graves that contained artifacts made of gold, bronze, bone, glass and textile. In 1347, as a result of a decision by the church council at its meeting held in Skopje, the headquarters of the bishopric was moved to Zletovo. Morodvis basis1

Demographics

According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 549 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:Macedonian Census (2002)
''Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion''
The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2002, p. 105. * Macedonians 549

References

{{Zrnovci Municipality Villages in Zrnovci Municipality