Cathedral church St. Sophia

The older frescoes from 11th century, as well as those of 14th century, drew a great attention and soon had received a respected place in all the worlds science magazines.

The church is dedicated to St. Sophia i.e Christ as divine wisdom, and was raised on the grounds of an early Christian basilica. In the time of the Macedonian tsar Samoil, was used as a cathedral patriarchy church, who towards the end of the 10th century moved its capitol from Prespa to Ohrid.

Today's frescoes had been drawn after the fall of Samuil's empire, and that is the time of the archbishop of Ohrid Leon (1037 - 1054), who renovated and expanded this cathedral temple.

In the 11th century, St. Sophia was a "large church" of the Ohrid archbishopric under whose dioceses, in that time, was the territory from Danube to the Albanian shores and the Thessalonica bay. During the next centuries this church organization was a very respected one among the orthodox world, and Ohrid archbishops its Justinian legacy up. Her throne was seated by the most glorious people from the eastern ecumene.

The church St. Sophia was shaped like a basilica with three arcs, with a transept (a perpendicular nave), a dome and gallerias on the side arcs, and it had a the porch since the 11th century.

In the second halve of the 15th century it was turned into a mosque and that is when most of the changes were made. All the frescoes were covered with lime , the dome was torn down and it was brought to the same level as the roof, and concerning the old altar marble fence with plastic decoration was removed, and above the northwestern dome a minaret was built. The former pulpit of the church in the naos, received a function of a Turkish mimbar.

The founder of the frescoes, archbishop Lav (Leon), one of the most educated people in the time, indirectly influenced the choice of the themes and the order of the painted frescoes.

More than sixty painted figures of the most famous patriarchs, bishops and priest assistants are set up on the lover areas of the altar space. The most numerous on the most imposing place, on the central part of the altar are the pictures of the heads of the Constantinople patriarchy: St. Vasilius the Great, St. Jovan Zlatoust and St. Grigorius Bogoslov, painted on the lover part, between the windows of the main apse.

The pictures of the six roman popes are painted on the side walls, over the deaconicon by which the relation between the Constantinople and the Roman churches before the splitting in 1054 is being reflected. We also have representatives of the Alexandria, Jerusalem and Antioch patriarchy , of the Cyprus archbishopric and of the old respectable bishops from Asia Minor presented in a smaller amount. Among these them are also the pictures of the Slavic enlighteners, St. Cyril the Philosopher, St Methodius and their student St. Clement of Ohrid - on the south wall of the deaconicon.

In the middle part of the main altar space, on the east, south and north side, there are compositions with a eucharistic and liturgy significance. The most popular and closest to the visitors are the scenes: "The holy threesome" as three angels visiting Abraham, "Abrahams hospitality" and "Adams sacrifice", "The three Jews Ananie, Azarie and Misail in the Fire Oven" and "Jacobs Ladder". On the north wall of the altar space two compositions dedicated to the authors of the orthodox liturgy have been illustrated. The first one presents "Service of St. Vasilius the Great" and on the second one the picture of "St. Sophia wisdom of God" can be identified.

The basic composition in the apse presents "Communion of the Apostles", with Christ in the the middle, blessing the bread, and the row of the apostles is led by Peter and Pavle. In the apse shell, on the throne, St. Mary Mother of God is seated, painted with little Christ in front of her. From the south and the north side, in a rhythmical flight, five angels from each side bow down to them, painted on the length of the main altar space.

From the decoration of the prosthesis in whom the illustrations of the scenes of the forty sufferers were painted, the basic idea was best kept, with their tormented, frozen faces on the Sevastian Lake. Above them Christ is painted as he is giving them sufferers crowns.

In the deaconicon, the life of St.Jovan the Baptist was presented.

The frescoes in the naos suffered great damage. The picture of Dormition of St. Mary Mother of God that lies on the western wall, is among the oldest compositions concerning this thematic in Byzantine art.

In the old painting in St. Sophia - from 11th century a special attention should be made to the two presentations of St. Mary Mother of God with her child Christ: one on the north column, next to the iconostasis, and the other, on the west entrance, in the porch.

In 1313-14 the Ohrid cathedral St. Sophija, by the archbishup of Ohrid Grigorius I, the magnifficent the porch, one of the most beautiful buildings of that kind, in the Macedonian and Bysantine culture. The decoration and the rhitmic of the outside walls, build by bricks and thick plaster connections, strenghts the horisontal chain of shallow NISI that are distinctive with their colourness.

The floor of its narthex and the paraklisis of John Oliver, received a painting decoration towards the middle of the 14th century. The paraclises was dedicated to St.John Preteca and representative portraits of the founder, Oliver the despot, his wife Ann Mary, sons Kraiko and Damjan and the archbishop of Ohrid at that time, Nicolas, were painted in it.

The floor and the NARTEKS was painted in the time of the archbishop of Ohrid Nicolas. On the hemispheres of the the porch, "The seven Cosmic gatherings" were painted, "Davids regret" who because of his sinfull love with Vitsaveja, a soldiers wife, king David, in an regretfull attitude, kneels front of the old prophet Nathan. Behind them, a winged personification stops the angel who wants to fulfill gods punishment with his sword, on the sword that the angel holds the name of the icon painter John Teorijan is written.

The first belt of the the porch is occupied by pictures of monks, hermits and church poets.

The decoration of Gregory's gallery presents the last great picture in the church St.Sophija. Although pretty dammaged, the frescoes enable us to see the great value of this complex.

In the first belt on the east and west side the great cycle of Joseph from the old testament is painted. Also here, the cicle

 G. Angeličin - Žura

About the churches in Macedonia

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