On the east coast of Ohrid Lake, in immediate neighborhood of the fishermen’s village of Trpejca, the monastery church Holy Mother of God-Zaum is located. According to the inscription placed above the inner side of the entrance the church is built in 1361 as legacy of the kesar Grgur, brother of Vuk Brankovic during the time of the archbishop Grigorie.

The church Holy Mother of God is built in a form of written cross with cupola leaned on four columns, whose upper parts finish in different capitols. The church is constructed of stone, scale and bricks and the fresco-decorations of the façade is accomplished with applied ornaments in various combinations (chess fields diagonally situated, meanders, crosses and teeth), maid of bricks.

The fresco-decorations are considerably damaged, especially in the arches and cupola.

In the first zone there are preserved saints in natural size: St. Clement Ohridski, St. Naum Ohridski, Jesus Christ, Holy Mother of God and others. What is a rarity and attracts greatest attention of the visitors is the presentation of St.Ana nursing the little Bogorodica.

In the second zone there are scenes of the cycle of Holy Mother of God and the other zones in a narrative way present the scenes of Christ.

While the figures in the first zone are given in a supernatural size, in the other compositions the painter kept certain proportions of the size, expressed sense of natural expression and used alive and light color gamma, especially with violet, orange and light blue tones.

The monastery church Holy Mother of God-Zaum represents beautiful achievement of the architecture with carefully implemented decoration, elegant proportions and emphasized height. Considering the fresco-decorations, we meet an artist who has sophisticated taste for pure and warm tones and vivid color variety.

G. Angeličin - Žura

About the churches in Macedonia

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