The Shirgj Church (), also known as the Monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (), is a ruined former

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery in the village of Shirgj on the river Buna in northern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. The church was built by

Saint Helen of Serbia Saint Helen of Serbia (; – 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. Their sons were later Serbian kings Stefan Dragutin (12 ...

in 1290, dedicated to Saints

Sergius and Bacchus Sergius (or Serge) and Bacchus (Greek: Σέργιος & Βάκχος; ; , also called ) were fourth-century Syrian Christian soldiers revered as martyrs and military saints by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Their ...

, allegedly on top of a pre-6th century

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

according to circumstantial evidence. However, no archaeological evidence exists of a prior structure.

History

Early history

The church was built in two phases, starting in 1290 by Helen of Serbia. Apparently, the monastery was constructed on top of an existing structure: according to

apocryphal Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

documents, the original monastery is mentioned as erected by

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

, 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 Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

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, suggests that the construction of the original building may lie in the 6th century. The

Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja The ''Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea or Duklja'' ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Ljetopis popa Dukljanina, Љетопис попа Дукљанина; ) is the usual name given to a medieval chronicle written in two versions between 1295 and 1301 by an eccles ...

suggests that the monastery was built upon a church used as a royal mausoleum for several predominately Catholic members of the Serbian Vojislavljević dynasty of Duklja including Mihailo I,

Constantine Bodin Constantine Bodin ( Bulgarian and , ''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, succeeding his father, Mihailo Vojislavljević ( 10 ...

, Dobroslav,

Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

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 ...

. However, no archaeological evidence exists of a pre-existing structure. Inscriptions by the Serbian King

Stefan Milutin Stefan Uroš II Milutin ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош II Милутин, Stefan Uroš II Milutin; 1253 – 29 October 1321), known as Saint King, was the King of Serbia between 1282–1321, a member of the Nemanjić dynasty. He was one ...

suggest that major construction works also commenced in 1318, suggesting that the monastery was not completely built at a single point in time. A document dated 22 October 1330 mentions the monastery as the rendezvous point of the king of Rascia with ambassadors of

Ragusa Ragusa may refer to: Places Croatia * Ragusa, Dalmatia, the historical name of the city of Dubrovnik * the Republic of Ragusa (or Republic of Dubrovnik), the maritime city-state of Ragusa * Ragusa Vecchia, historical Italian name of Cavtat, a t ...

. In another document dated 1333, the monastery is mentioned as the customs' place of the kingdom of Rascia.

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) was the most original writer of Old Albanian literature. He was author of the Cuneus Prophetarum (''The Band of the Prophets''), 1685, the first prose work of substance written originally in (Gheg) A ...

reported that the church's bell had been put underground. Daniele Farlati 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 1234–1289 also known as Zuien 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 Shikok ...

, 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 The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...

in 2014.

Possible characteristics

Exterior

The monastery was a three-church basilica. The main entrance sat in the central bay of the western façade, consisting of a porch that was supported by pillars. A secondary entrance to the monastery was positioned on the southern façade. The triangular

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

and walls of the monastery were constructed with alternating layers of stone and brick, while the

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', 'little moon') is a crescent- or half-moon–shaped or semi-circular architectural space or feature, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be ...

was solely made of bricks. The monastery was predominately illuminated by two large windows placed above the western side of the monastery. The roof was constructed using

roof tiles Roof tiles are overlapping tiles designed mainly to keep out precipitation such as rain or snow, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as clay or slate. Later tiles have been made from materials such as concrete, glass ...

at a 30 degree angle.

Interior

The monastery had six square stone pillars in the interior. The interior walls were covered with frescoes and the interior articulation was crowned with arches. The monastery had a raised semicircular

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...