St. Joakim Osogovski - Monastery in Kriva Palanka
Monastery Joakim
Osogovski on the slopes of the Osogovo mountain, exsisted on this location
since XI century - a time when Joakim Osogovski lived.
Today there are
no traces of the original monastery, but on this place monastery church was
built which exists untill modern times.
Location: 1330 Kriva Palanka
Contact phone: +389 31 375 063
The hagiography
of Joakim Osogovski says that during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Manojlo
Comnenus (1143-1180), a priest Theodore from village Osmir-Dol, Ovco Pole,
remaining a widower, became a monk and founded a monastery in the vicinity of
today's monastery Joakim Osogovski, devoting this monastery to Joakim.
Monastery was
called Sarandopor and it was named after the name of the locality where the
monastery was built.
In the historical
chronicles for the first time the monastery is mentioned in connection with the
visit of Tsar Kaloyan (1196-1207) while in Karlovac Chronicle in 1503 it is
said the monastery was built by the King Milutin. This is not true and
probably, they ment to say the monastery was repaired.
Monks from Joakim
Osogovski were forced to go even in Dubrovnik to require from Dubrovnik
Republic material assistance for the maintenance of the monastery which was
depleted. A century later, in 1586, the monastery strongly suffered from
earthquake. Because of the damages, monks were not able to renew it, so the
Kjustendil (Kyustendil) metropolitan Visarion decided to go to Moscow for help.
After the rebuilding, in the middle of the seventeenth century (1643), this monastery was in its bloom.
After the rebuilding, in the middle of the seventeenth century (1643), this monastery was in its bloom.
When in 1686 Archbishop
Arsenie III from Veles came here, he was enthralled by the richness and beauty
of the monastery, and he wrote down all the items and cursed those who will
reach for its property.
The bloom period
of the monastery did not last more than a century. Towards the middle of the
eighteenth century, the monastery was again in very bad position and its
renewal was obstructed by the Turkish authorities.
On initiative by
Hadji Stefan Beglikchijata in 1847 year began the construction of the great
cathedral dedicated to St. Joakim Osogovski.
In the year 1851
it was completed and consecrated. The construction was entrusted to the master
Andrej Damjanov (1817-1878), originally from yield Renzovci the most famous
builder in the Balkans since the beginning of the nineteenth century.
The inside of the
church and the porch are painted by the crafty hand of four Macedonian
painters. Dimitrij (Demetrius) Andonov Papradiski in the period of 1884-1945
with love has transferred all his skills, painting the northern and southern
dome of the porch, west and south facade and arches above the porch on the
south side.
In year 1884 here
worked the painters Miron (Myron) Iliev, Avram Dicov and Gligorie Petrovic from
village Tresonce, which have painted the middle dome above the porch on the
west side of the church.
Most important
part of the frescoes is on the west wall of the church, which was painted by
Papradiski. One of the most characteristic paintings composition
"Evangelical preaching of the Apostle Paul," in which the artist's
hand entered and profane elements. On this remarkable mural the folk costume
from Kriva Palanka glows with all its beauty.
The oldest
building in the todays monastery complex is the small church Holy Mother of
God, built in the fourteenth or sixteenth century, on the foundations of a
church built in the XI - XII century. According to the building concept it is
one nave small church, with cruciform base, and a three-sided apse outside
porch. The building is characterized by the Byzantine style. It is built with
two rows of brick and stone row in horizontal rows, with a thick layer of
mortar between them. The church is one of the first medieval churches in
Macedonia and it was painted recently.
The monastic
quarters and grand dining room, as well as other auxiliary buildings, evidence
the intense monastic life at a time when Macedonia was under Turkish slavery.
The monastery is
open to pilgrims, visitors, passengers and tourists. Usually they come to
venerate the miraculous relics of St. Joachim, which are kept in the church.
The feast of the
temple on August 29, is a faithful flee for many visitors of monastery where
thay can worship the saint.
The monastery is
also a place for many cultural events, such as the International Art Colony
"St. Joakim Osogovski" Summer School for Architecture and Colony of
the Association of carvers.
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