Description of the attraction
The medieval Orthodox monastery of St. Panteleimon is located above the village of Gorno Nerezi near Skopje. From the hill where the monastery is located, the Macedonian capital spread out below is visible. The monastery of St. Panteleimon with the church of the same name is part of the Byzantine heritage in this region. The monastery was founded around the church of St. Panteleimon, erected in 1164. Now it belongs to the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
The temple was erected by order of the imperial governor and grandson of Alexei Comnenus. The church was built in the Byzantine style, but you can also see typical Balkan architectural elements in its design. The square church, built of ocher-colored stone and bricks, is decorated with five domes. The central dome rests on a large polygonal superstructure and is much larger than the other domes. In the apse of the temple and on the side facades, there are triphors - triple windows. The harmonious proportions of the building give the interior a monumentality, despite the modest size of the temple.
The church has preserved frescoes from the period of the Komnenos reign. Probably, the founder of the church, Alexei Komnin, invited a group of craftsmen from Byzantium here to paint the church. The artists created frescoes of amazing beauty, which are characterized by smooth transitions instead of clear lines and dynamics and naturalness in the image of people. In the 16th century, the paintings of the Nerez church were badly damaged by an earthquake, later they decided not to restore them and were simply hidden under a layer of paint. Only in 1926, during the restoration, they were discovered by M. Okunev.
