Marko's Monastery ( Macedonian and ) is a monastery located in the village of Markova Sušica, from central

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. The monastery bears the name of Serbian

Prince Marko Marko Mrnjavčević ( sr-Cyrl, Марко Мрњавчевић, ; – 17 May 1395) was the ''de jure'' Serbia in the Middle Ages, Serbian king from 1371 to 1395, while he was the ''de facto'' ruler of territory in western Macedonia (region) ...

, who reigned at the time of its completion in the 14th century. Marko's Monastery has been active since its establishment.

Description

Marko's Monastery contains a single cross-shaped church dedicated to

Saint Demetrius Saint Demetrius (or Demetrios) of Thessalonica (, ), also known as the Holy Great-Martyr Demetrius the Myroblyte (meaning 'the Myrrh-Gusher' or 'Myrrh-Streamer'; 3rd century – 306), was a Greek Christian martyr of the early 4th century AD. D ...

. The monastery grounds also consist of lodgings, a belfry, a well, warehouses, a bakery, and a mill. The monastery still operates a special oven used to make

rakija Rakia, rakija, rakiya, rachiu or rakı (), is the collective term for fruit spirits (or fruit brandy) popular in the Balkans. The alcohol content of rakia is normally 40% ABV, but home-produced rakia can be stronger (typically 50–80%). O ...

. The church has a narthex, a central dome and a smaller dome on the western side. It was built of bricks and stone. The iconstasis is made of stone pillars. The

fresco Fresco ( 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 plaster, the painting become ...

es inside the church were done by a number of painters from the region. The Holy Mother of God, the twelve great feasts, Jesus Christ, and Saint Nicholas are some of the subjects depicted in the frescoes.

History

Construction of the Church of Saint Demetrius began under King Vukašin in 1346. The church, including the interior paintings, were completed 30 years later. Before Ottoman rule, the monastery had a school and many monks and priests would write manuscripts. In 1392, Skopje fell under Ottoman rule, which led to the destruction of many churches and monasteries in the area. Marko's Monastery, however, suffered almost no damage. During the Ottoman era, in 1467/8 the monastery is recorded as having 20 monks. Kiril Peychinovich was the hegumen of Marko's Monastery from 1801 to 1818. In 1830, Ottoman aristocrat Hamzi Paşa added an exonarthex to the church. Frescoes showing the ktetor King Vukašin and his son

were the most defaced by overpainting with a fat-based paint in 1894, an act of national fanaticism ordered by the Bulgarian metropolitan of Skopje. In the 1920s, attempts were made to restore the damaged frescoes.

References

External links

Marko's Monastery on travel2macedoniaLegends about Marko's Monastery
{{Authority control Eastern Orthodox monasteries in North Macedonia Macedonian Orthodox monasteries Medieval Serbian Orthodox monasteries Studeničani Municipality