The cave church St. Stephen –
Pancir
On the left side of the road
leading from Ohrid to St.
Naum above the syndicate resort "Orce
Nikolov", is a small cave church consecrated to the first Christian martyr
St. Stephen – he is celebrated on the 2nd that is on the 15th
August according to new style. The small semi-oval church built in the cavity of
the rock existed for a long time before it was fresco-painted in the period of
the artistic bloom in the 15th century with the help of the wide
circle of founders and donors from Ohrid and the neighboring villages. The
inscriptions in the niche of the diaconicon inform us
that the donors were the citizens from Veliki Varoš i.e. Ohrid and the people
from the neighboring villages: Šipokno, Gorica and Konjsko.
| the interior of the cave
church has been painted with wonderful fresco-paintings, but much of
them have been damaged. In the lower zone of the apse wall, the Holy
Virgin Mary holding the young Christ in her hands has been painted. From
the church archpriests and saints, we can find the images of St. Basil
the Great, St. John Chrysosom and St. Athanasius of Alexandria. Most
wonderful is the image of the patron to whom this cave church has been
consecrated – the Archdeacon and first Christian martyr, Stephen, who
has been painted in the niche of the prosthesis. |
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The
Eye of God that sees everything, -
the cave church St. Stefan Pancir
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The great composition Deisis or
as known with the people "The Second Coming of Christ" has been
painted on the north wall. Next to this painting is the image of the greatly
respected saint St. Petka.
From what is left today,
according to the general drawing of the figures, the peculiar treatment of the
forms with free moves and the rich coloring, this painting has been closely
related to the church dedicated to ‘All Saints’
in the village Lešani, not far from Ohrid. This is the reason why this church is
considered to have been fresco-painted by the end of the sixth decade of the 15th
century, when in the air there was the sense of change in the way of the work of
the artists.
G. Angelicin-Zura
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