The Shirgj Church ( al, Kisha e Shirqit/Shirgjit, links=no), also known as the Monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus ( al, Manastiri i Shën Shirgjit dhe Bakut, sr, Манастир Светих Сергија и Вакха, ''Manastir Svetih Sergija i Vakha''), is a ruined former
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery in the village of Shirgj on the
Bojana River in northern
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
. The church was built by Serbian Queen
Helen of Anjou
Helen of Anjou ( sr, Јелена Анжујска / Jelena Anžujska, ; c. 1235 – 8 February 1314) was the queen consort of the Kingdom of Serbia (medieval), Serbian Kingdom, as the spouse of King Stefan Uroš I, who ruled from 1243 to 1276. T ...
in 1290, dedicated to Saints
Sergius and Bacchus
Sergius (or Serge) and Bacchus were fourth-century Roman Christian soldiers revered as martyrs and military saints by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Their feast day is 7 October.
According to their hagiography, S ...
, seemingly on top of a pre-6th century
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...
.
History
Early history
The church was built in 1290 by
Helen of Anjou
Helen of Anjou ( sr, Јелена Анжујска / Jelena Anžujska, ; c. 1235 – 8 February 1314) was the queen consort of the Kingdom of Serbia (medieval), Serbian Kingdom, as the spouse of King Stefan Uroš I, who ruled from 1243 to 1276. T ...
,
queen consort of the
Serbian Kingdom, wife of Serbian king
Stefan Uroš I
Stefan Uroš I ( sr-cyr, Стефан Урош I; 1223 – May 1, 1277), known as Uroš the Great (Урош Велики) was the King of Serbia from 1243 to 1276, succeeding his brother Stefan Vladislav. He was one of the most important ruler ...
, and mother of kings
Dragutin and
Milutin Milutin ( sr, Милутин) is a Serbian masculine given name of Slavic origin. The name may refer to:
*Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia
Stefan Uroš II Milutin ( sr-cyr, Стефан Урош II Милутин, Stefan Uroš II Milutin; 125 ...
.
Apparently the monastery was constructed on top of an existing structure: according to
apocryphal documents, the original monastery is mentioned as erected by
Justinian
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
, whereas in other sources its existence is mentioned as an
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The con ...
starting from 1100.
The presence of a pillar of black granite, a material which originates from
Syria and was often used in 6th-century basilicas in Albania, demonstrates that the construction of the original building may indeed lie in the 6th century.
A document dated 22 October 1330 mentions the monastery as the rendezvous point of the king of Rascia with ambassadors of
Ragusa.
In another document dated 1333, the monastery is mentioned as the customs' place of the kingdom of Rascia.
In the ''
Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja
The ''Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea or Duklja'' ( sh, Ljetopis popa Dukljanina) is the usual name given to a purportedly medieval chronicle written in the late 13th century by an anonymous priest from Duklja. Its oldest preserved copy is in La ...
'', it is alleged that several members of the
Vojislavljević dynasty
The Vojislavljević ( sr-Cyrl, Војислављевић, pl. Vojislavljevići / Војислављевићи) was a Serbian medieval dynasty, named after ''archon'' Stefan Vojislav, who wrested the polities of Duklja, Travunia, Zahumlje, inne ...
of
Duklja
Duklja ( sh-Cyrl, Дукља; el, Διόκλεια, Diokleia; la, Dioclea) was a medieval South Slavic state which roughly encompassed the territories of modern-day southeastern Montenegro, from the Bay of Kotor in the west to the Bojana Riv ...
were buried here, such as
Mihailo I,
Constantine Bodin
Constantine Bodin ( Bulgarian and sr, italic=no, Константин Бодин, ''Konstantin Bodin''; 1072–1101) was a medieval king and the ruler of Duklja, the most powerful Serbian principality of the time, from 1081 to 1101, succee ...
,
Dobroslav,
Vladimir
Vladimir may refer to:
Names
* Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name
* Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name
* Volodymyr for the Ukr ...
and
Gradinja
Gradinja ( sr-cyr, Градиња) or Gradihna (; 1125–46) was the ruler of Duklja, from either 1131 to 1142 or 1135 to 1146. Gradinja is one of many persons (alongside Branislav, Gojislav, Georgije and Grubeša among others) mentioned only in ...
.
Modern history
Marino Bizzi, the
Archbishop of Antivari at the time, wrote in a 1611 report to the Vatican that heavy damages were inflicted to the church as a result of the
Ottoman presence in Albania. In 1684,
Pjetër Bogdani
Pjetër Bogdani (1627 – 6 December 1689), known in Italian as ''Pietro Bogdano'', was the most original writer of early literature in Albania. He was author of the Cuneus Prophetarum (''The Band of the Prophets''), 1685, the first prose work ...
reported that the church's bell had been put underground.
Daniele Farlati
Daniele Farlati (22 February 1690 – 25 April 1773) was an ecclesiastical historian.
Farlati was born in San Daniele del Friuli in the present Italian province of Udine. After having studied in Gorizia he entered, in 1707, the Society of Jesus i ...
also mentioned the church in his ''
Illyricum sacrum''.
In 1790 archbishop Frang Borci informed Coletti, Farlati's assistant, who was about to republish ''Illyricum sacrum'', that the church was the most beautiful of Albania.
The French consul in Iskodra noted that the monastery's frescoes could still be seen in the church in 1905. At that time only three of the four perimeter walls were still standing.
Ippen
was a Japanese Buddhist itinerant preacher (''hijiri'') who founded the branch of Pure Land Buddhism.
Life
Ippen was born at Hōgon-ji, a temple in Iyo Province (modern Ehime Prefecture) on the island of Shikoku. He was originally named . He ...
, then Austrian consul of Iskodra, observed that in the late 1800s and early 1900s the gravediggers of Shirgj would find old mosaics.
At present, only a single wall remains and the mosaics can no longer be seen.
The monastery has been under the Vatican's jurisdiction during all of its active life.
It was listed as a ''Monument of Culture'' by the Albanian government in 1970.
The ruins were visited by
Patriarch Irinej of the
Serbian Orthodox Church in 2014.
References
Further reading
*
*
{{Religious Cultural Monuments in Shkodër County
Churches in Albania
Benedictine monasteries in Albania
Christian monasteries established in the 13th century
Churches completed in 1290
Buildings and structures in Shkodër
Cultural Monuments of Albania
Gothic architecture in Albania