The St. Nicholas Church (; ) is an Orthodox church in

Moscopole Moscopole or Voskopoja (; , with several other variants; ) is a village in Korçë County in southeastern Albania. During the 18th century, it was the cultural and commercial center of the Aromanians. At its peak, in the mid 18th century, it h ...

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 erected in 1721. Voskopoja church

It is a

Cultural Monument of Albania In Albania, a cultural monument () is a construction or work of cultural, historical and artistic value that is built in a visible space, made in memory of important events or prominent people. Cultural monuments are usually under state protection ...

since 1948.

History and description

The church was built in 1721. The structure consists of a

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 ...

-type construction Struktura with a naos covered with a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

, a

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

and a

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

. The interiors of the church are decorated with mural paintings executed by David Selenica and his helpers Kostandin and Kristo. The art of Selenicasi is distinguished by its realistic nature, as it is witnessed by the portrait of the donor, as well as by a deep theological knowledge. According to the inscription, the portrait of the donor the painting was finished in 1726 and this was determined by an archaeologic expedition in 1953. 24 years later, in 1750, the

Zografi Brothers The brothers Kostandin Zografi and Athanas Zografi (or as they were known locally, Kostë and Thanas Korçari) were Albanian painters of the 18th century from Dardhë, in modern Korçë municipality, southern Albania (then Ottoman Empire). The ...

painted the cloister.

Liturgy

As of 2002, the time of the publication of a study on the

Aromanians The Aromanians () are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgari ...

by German researcher

Thede Kahl Thede Kahl (born 30 March 1971 in Hamburg) is a German ethnographer and ethnolinguist. He is the head of the Institute of South Slavic Studies in the University of Jena (in which he is a professor), in Germany. His research focuses are the Slavs, ...

, priest Thoma was giving the Eastern Orthodox liturgy on the church in Aromanian, based on the text within the Aromanian Missal, and only thereafter in

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

. In Aromanian, St. Nicholas is .

References

External links

Images from the church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Nicholas Church, Moscopole Cultural Monuments of Albania Eastern Orthodox church buildings in Albania Churches in Moscopole Churches completed in 1721