the spiritual and cultural heritage of kosovo and metohia

7/21/2019 The Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of Kosovo and Metohia

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The Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of Kosovo and Metohia

(www.kosovo.net)



In the long course of its existence, Serbian art, in the Kosovo region, reached its peak in the first half ofthe 14th century. li!ited selection of buildings has been !ade here, !ost of which date to that period,with the ai! of representing the chief stylistic currents and outlining the co!plexity of ideas on whichtheir sophisticated sculptural decoration and painting rely. "hese shrines especially exe!plify thecharacter of artwork in surroundings exposed to si!ultaneous influences of #y$antiu! and the %est. &npolitical life, this ancient duality was displayed in the existence of two Serbian lands, 'aska and ioclea( eta), which fro! the second half of the 1*th century onwards per!anently united their destiny intoone state. &n art, these dual concepts beca!e clearly !anifested as early as the era of the statefounder, the +rand $upan Stefan e!an-a. "he churches he raised articulated, on the one hand,characteristic features of #y$antine architectural skill, even of onstantinople !asters (in all probability,St. icholas in "oplica), while, on the other, of 'o!anes/ue style, notable in the articulation of the!arble facades and the outstanding sculpted orna!entation on the church of the 0irgin in Studenica, alevel of artistic achieve!ent which was never to be attained in later years.

"he atriarchate of ec 12314th century

uring the 12th century, the 'aska school of architecture produced churches of !onu!entaldi!ensions and har!onious proportions, but, in ter!s of sculptural decoration, the si!ple features oftheir outward appearances were !odestly executed in the western spirit. le!ents of plasticorna!entation hardly appeared on the!5 the church of the 6oly postles in ec 3 for a long ti!e theonly surviving church in Kosovo invested with so!e i!portance, did not have the! either. 6ence, itcertainly is no coincidence that no !a-or sculptural works, typical of the towns in al!atia, ca!e intoexistence along the southern driatic coast in this period.

"he wife of 7ros &, 8ueen 6elen, of 9rench descent provided a powerful inspiration for architecture inthe western spirit. %hen she supervised the building of the !onastery of +radac on the river &bararound 1*:;, she engaged !aster3!asons who were the first to !ake !ore extensive use of +othicele!ents in construction. &n the !odulation of portals and windows on the !ain church theyincorporated the appropriate sculptural repertoire. t a later ti!e in the coastal region where she ruledafter the death of her husband, 8ueen 6elen had an <rthodox church built in the vicinity of Scutary anddedicated to St. icholas. She also aided the construction of a !uch greater nu!ber of atholic placesof worship, giving support to !e!bers of the order of St. 9rancis. arly sources reveal that in 1*== sheconsecrated 9ranciscan churches in !onasteries in Kotor, #ar, 7lcin- and Scutary which echoed the

characteristic appearance of religious buildings of the 7!brian3"uscan type, with a si!ple, elongatedspace that could acco!!odate a large nu!ber of believers.



"hese a!bitious ventures of 8ueen 6elen were also aided by her sons. well3preserved inscriptionfro! 1*>; states that with kings ragutin and ?ilutin she had the church of SS Sergios and #akchosbuilt near Scutary on the bank of the #o-ana5 this church was subse/uently worn away by the river. %ithher sons dressed in royal robes and herself clad in !onastic attire she is depicted praying to St.

icholas who blesses her in the fa!ous icon of SS eter and aul which she presented to their churchin 'o!e.

"he to!b of rchbishop aniel 3 14th century, ec

espite the fact that she had assu!ed the <rthodox !onastic habit, the owager 3 8ueen lavishlyaided !onasteries of her earlier religious deno!ination. ?ilutin did the sa!e at a later ti!e@ aninscription fro! 121= relates to his !erits, probably in the renewal of the #enedictine church nearScutary. #y protecting his atholic sub-ects, the king evidently adhered to the practice of religioustolerance cherished in his country.

<f buildings erected by atholic, not to speak of <rthodox, inhabitants of !ining settle!ents for theirreligious needs, exa!ples worthy of attention are the frag!ents still standing of a church dedicated tothe 0irgin in ovo #rdo, and of St. eterAs in Stari "rg in "repca the for!er, like ecani and churchesalong the coastal region, was built of alternate layers of red and white stone, while the base of the latterchurch, three3aisled with se!i3circular apses on the east side, indicates that its central part was do!edas were cathedrals in Kotor and ubrovnik (before the great earth/uake in 1BB:). 6ence, each in itsown way 3 i.e. in ter!s of construction !ethod, do!e design 3 was associated with <rthodoxarchitecture in Kosovo.

'evived architectural activity in coastal towns was !ost certainly connected with their !astersAengage!ent in building pro-ects in Kosovo. "heir role was especially conspicuous in the erection ofsepulchral churches. &t was perceivable, in so!e details at least, in other structures as well, even thosewhich were typical speci!ens of the new, #y$antine style. rtists arrived here travelling along the valleyof the ri! 'iver, by the road linking ri$ren directly with the region of Scutary and further on, by landand by sea, with other towns along the driatic coast.



"he royal fa!ily with the rchbishop and St. Sava 3 ec, 14th century

?asters fro! #y$antine workshops ca!e at invitation fro! rulers fro! the northern lands of the !pire,and with local artists they fostered a style which was to beco!e typical for Serbian surroundings,particularly in ter!s of fresco3painting. ainting belonged to the inviolable sphere of <rthodox art, withinwhich no concessions were !ade in Serbia. "he co!plete and absolute acceptance of its iconographicexpression, connected with growing religious needs, rendered it possible for !asters fro! localworkshops, skillful and experienced, to respond to the high re/uire!ents posed by the court. #eforebeco!ing king, Stefan ecanski had ruled over eta for so!e ti!e, and there he had beco!eac/uainted with the ?editerranean a!bience and the spirit of %estern art. fter that, under the#y$antine !perorAs surveillance, he spent seven years in his capital whose edifices 3 erected in thecourse of its thousand3year history 3 !ust have i!pressed hi! deeply not only by their si$e and !annerof construction, but also by the opulence of their interiors. 6is inti!ate knowledge of ancient places ofworship and the rulerAs court !ust have also had an i!pact on usan, who, as a boy, sharing the fate ofbanish!ent with his father, ac/uired his education in onstantinople. &t is not si!ple nowadays toassess the contribution of local artists working either alone in the sa!e spirit, or with !asters educatedin centers where stylistic expression was constantly changing and representations were graduallybeco!ing an increasingly co!plex !anifestation of theological interpretation.

&n !edieval Serbia within its narrower borders 3 preceding Stefan usanAs con/uests 3 the character ofpainting displayed fewer differences in co!parison to the leading stylistic currents in the #y$antine

!pire than was the case in so!e of its other regions with their own local traditions. "he reason for thisis si!ple. Serbian rulers and the high clergy, in constant and close touch with larger cities, especially"hessalonica, invariably su!!oned fro! their workshops the best artists who represented the latesttrends in art and, !oreover, directly participated in its transfor!ation. &n this connection, it is butsufficient to exa!ine the ascent of wall3painting in the last decade of King ?ilutinAs rule (C12*1)@frescoes adorning the walls of all the rulerAs endow!ents dating fro! this period are the creation of therenowned painters fro! "hessalonica, ?ichael strapas and utychios, or the !asters fro! a veryclose artistic circle. "he uncertainty of experts as to whether the frescoes bearing no survivingsignatures should be attributed to these "hessalonian artists, known by na!es, confir!s in the bestpossible !anner the unity of spirit and the recogni$able kinship of expression, which fro! the end of the12th century could be followed fro! ?t thos, through <hrid, to ec, ri$ren and +racanica.



"he fresco of the Dord, ri$ren 14th century+racanica ?onasterey 3 14th century

Docal artists who worked with fa!ous foreign !asters left no infor!ation about the!selves, nor did thespecific features of their creations distinguish the! even at a later ti!e when their participation wasconfir!ed by signatures. telling instance of this is the case of two great painters fro! the end of the14th and the beginning of the 1Eth centuries, ?etropolitan Fovan and his brother ?akari-e, fa!ous fortheir works in elagoni-a, and in Serbia, in the ?orava basin. "heir creations, not only in ter!s of value,but also in style, closely rese!bled those produced by the !ost significant !asters of that epoch,whose si!ilar works are encountered even in faraway yprus.

&n the epoch of Stefan ecanski and usan, the painting heritage of the first decades of the 14thcentury was evolved by do!estic artists, engaged in the construction of both large and s!all si$edchurches in Serbia. "his is best perceived in the painting of the spacious church of hrist antocrator in

ecani which took ten years to co!plete. Several groups of artists gathered there "hey readilyresponded to the challenge posed by the co!plex and, in ter!s of volu!e, the richest sub-ect3!atter inthe #y$antine world. "he value of their work was in no way inferior to that of artists co!ing fro! othercorners of the !pire. "he re!ains of frescoes in the for!erly grand 6oly rchangels, only severalyears younger than ecani, show the hand of the sa!e or related painters5 a si!ilar !anner of workhas been discerned in other churches as well. 9urther!ore, direct analogies of the large fresco3se/uences could not be found in #y$antiu! at that ti!e5 nether s t possible, as it is in the ti!e of King?ilutin, to deter!ine their roots in the centers ! which they had been previously noted. 9inancial wealthand increasing re/uire!ents obviously brought about the rise of local workshops. "hese workshops,like others all over the ast3 hristian world, were, understandably, always in touch with life in thecapital and other towns of the !pire.



&con of St. icholas 1Bth century, 0elika 6oca

&n large enterprises, apart fro! the participation of local artists, a significant role belonged to the leadingpersonalities of the Serbian church, educated and widely cultured. "heir involve!ent in the erection andadorn!ent of !onu!ents is revealed by docu!ents, pri!arily endow!ent charters, as well as writingsbelonging to different literary genres. &t was noticeable not only in the !aking of decisions concerningthe appearance of a structure, the choice of artists and iconography, but also ! the process of findingthe !ost appropriate articulation for ecclessiastical and political ideas. "he !ultitude of historicalco!positions and effigies of !e!bers of the ruling house, the nobility, high clergy and !onks, !ostfre/uently in the role of founders, reflects the life and understanding of !edieval Serbian society. "heinscriptions acco!panying the! accurately record the historical !o!ent and disclose the a!bitions ofthe sovereign, so!eti!es of a short duration ! a changing political reality. &n that, painters, even thosewho ca!e fro! other countries, displayed a developed sense of careful attention to the spirit of theartistic environ!ent and the re/uests of those who co!!issioned the work. &n that aspect, the shrinesin Kosovo have preserved the wealth of their uni/ueness. &n contrast to representations of saints whosei!ages were entrenched in traditional <rthodox iconography, historical portraits, especially those of!en, portrayed the personAs original facial features in the !a-ority of cases, !eticulously registering thecharacter of their clothes and attributes of their social status. St. Sy!eon and St. Sava, the founders of

the autono!ous state and church, were regular features on frescoes, as were expressions of co!plexstate and legal ideas, the e!phasis always being placed on the divine origin of rule.



"he church of the hrist Saviour 3 ri$ren, 14th century

"he representations of founders took a special place in churches which they raised for their eternal rest.&n Kosovo, however, such i!ages have survived only in ecani, in a nu!ber not registered elsewhere@the first ktetor, Stefan ecanski, got four, and the second, usan, even five portraits, each in a differenticonographic version, invested with a special !essage. "he lost depictions of King ?ilutin in #an-ska,and of usan in the 6oly rchangels, were undoubtedly particular paraphrases of the sa!e ideas. "helatter, as it has been shown, had two 3 in Serbian art uni/ue 3 ruling portraits carved in stone, above theentrance to the church and over the to!b itself.

Serbian kings of the first half of the 14th century entrusted the design and construction of their largeshrines, the carving of stonework and the painting of frescoes in spacious interiors, to !asters fro!provincial workshops, as well as to those fro! the coastal regions and #y$antine towns, depending onthe character of the work and available artistic support. &n the free selection of artistic for!s, open towestern concepts for the outer appearance of churches, they satisfied the re/uire!ents of the <rthodoxrite in the disposition and function of spatial ele!ents, preserving with consistency the appropriatecharacter of wall3paintings and icons. "he faithful in the ?iddle ges ad!ired such churches, but didnot !arvel at the!@ they were the expression of a specific and exciting 3 only for the present3dayobserver unexpected 3 synthesis that was the natural outco!e of cultural circu!stances and vitalartistic practice. "his vitality was felt in the works of the !asters fro! other branches of art. "ake, forinstance, the handiwork of golds!iths who fashioned Gholy vesselsG for the needs of the ast3 hristiancult, while decorating the! with orna!ents fro! the repertoire of western art, -ust as !asters in that

sa!e period carve #y$antine and 'o!anes/ue (or +othic) e!bellish!ents on the portals and windowsof the churches before the!.



fresco fro! +racanica ?onastery 3 14th century

considerable nu!ber of feudal and town churches were erected in a !ore !odest spirit within si!plerfor!s. <nly the rudi!entary facts about the! have been outlined in the appendix. either does this listoffer a balanced testi!ony to their nu!ber and disposition. "hose churches in towns whose re!ainshave been insufficiently investigated, to a large extent have yet to be analyi$ed. <ne need only toco!pare their nu!ber in towns like <hrid, Kastoria or 0erroia, which preserve their early nucleithroughout "urkish rule, or, at least, have surviving data about hristian structures in the defters(censuses), to pro-ect how !any of the! !ay have existed in the prosperous centers in Kosovo, withwealthy !ine owners or lessees, !aster crafts!en, !erchants and artisans. &t has already been statedthat, apart fro! the local population, these places were also inhabited by Gforeigners,G whose social andlegal status was established by law, and i!plied, a!ong other things, ownership rights, exe!ption fro!certain taxes, etc. "here were !any citi$ens fro! ubrovnik, 0enice and +enoa a!ong the!. &naddition, the !ines attracted lbanians whose arrival was pro!pted by the expansion of the !edievalSerbian state into territory to the south of Scutary.

"he growing exploitation of !ineral riches in Serbia and #osnia gathered !o!entu! fro! the !id314thcentury since !ines in urope were being exhausted. "hus, around ovo #rdo and Fan-evo wheresilver !ixed with gold was being excavated, as well as "repca and elsewhere, tales spread about therich deposits. "he wealth was enor!ous. rchival data disclose that one fifth of the total uropeanproduction of silver was exported fro! Serbia and #osnia only via ubrovnik.

o churches have survived in !edieval fortified towns with suburbs, or in !arketplaces where,so!eti!es several ti!es a year, fairs were held on particular feast3days when !erchants fro! afarasse!bled offering co!!odities to the local population. &n the last century of independence, however,no further !onu!ental churches followed the co!pletion of the 6oly rchangels. %ith the revenuescontinually yielded by the !ines, churches were built in the north, chiefly in the ?orava 'iver basinwhere the center of the state !oved under the rule of rince Da$ar and his heirs. "he !onasteries on?t. thos were also lavishly furnished with gifts of silver. "he /uantities of this precious !etal wereexpressed in characteristic liters or ounces, not in the currency unit in circulation at the ti!e.



"he scension of the Dord 3 ecani 14th century

<n the other hand, ec, with Gthe throne of St. Sava,G re!ained the heart of Kosovo spiritual life. "hehurch viewed rince Da$ar (12:1312=>) as rightful heir to the e!an-ics and bearer of sovereignty

over all Serbian lands, as expressed in his title and the !anner in which he was addressed by staterepresentatives and ecclesiastical dignitaries fro! other countries. "he reestablish!ent of canonicrelations with onstantinople, interrupted because of the conflict brought about by Stefan usanAsprocla!ation as e!peror and the elevation of the Serbian rchbishop to the rank of atriarch, was ofut!ost i!portance both for the political position of the country and the peaceful existence of theSerbian church. "hese i!portant issues were discussed at councils in ec su!!oned at rince Da$arAsinitiative. "hrough the !ediation of thonite !onks, an agree!ent acceptable to both churches wasreached, and above the grave of the !peror usan in the 6oly rchangels in ri$ren, in 12:E, thedecision of reconciliation was proclai!ed in the presence of envoys fro! the atriarchate of

onstantinople. fter that, the rince co!!enced the construction of his large !onastery of 'avanica,to which his body was transferred, first buried in ristina after his death, a year after the battle ofKosovo (12=>). "he disturbances and pressures that forced Da$arAs widow and son, the young prince,to recogni$e the SultanAs authority as vassals, left traces on the grand endow!ents of the e!an-ics. &n12::, rincess ?ilica paid a visit to ecani and, as stated in her granting charter, ca!e across Gagenuinely pitiful sightG@ the !onastery was burned down and devastated by Gthe vile &s!ailite people.GShe restored to the !onastery the estates that had been taken fro! it and conferred upon it several ofher own5 she also renovated the bron$e polycandilion dating fro! the ti!e of church construction, thelargest surviving speci!en of its kind in the #y$antine world. wide, circular ring, held by twenty3!eter3long Gchains,G suspended on the base of the do!e, illu!inated the interior during evening prayers withdo$ens of candles and hanging lights. &ts parts 3 all together, there were around B;; 3 had perforatedorna!ents, and in the circles with decoratively linked letters, as was the custo!, was the na!e of itsfounder@ Stefan the King. "he rincess, at that ti!e the nun ugenia, co!!issioned a si!ilar piece torecord the !e!ory of her sons, Stefan and 0ukan and herself in the sa!e !anner. t a later ti!e,popular tradition concocted the legend that the choros had been forged out of the weapons of thewarriors fallen in the battle of Kosovo.



ecani ?onastery in festal lights

7ntil the final con/uest by the <tto!ans in 14EE, !odest3si$ed churches whose founders and ti!e ofconstruction are, in the !ain, unknown, continued to be built in towns, on feudal estates and !onastic!etochia. &n the long centuries of "urkish rule, people gathered in these ecclesiastical buildingscollecting contributions in order to restore the!, protect the! fro! de!olition, and re3paint thefrescoes, or, at least, replace da!aged ones, adorn interiors with icons and furnish the! with liturgicalvessels. %ith the passage of ti!e, however, as the religious and ethnic structure of the population haschanged, these efforts have decreased.

"he overall survey of hundreds of hristian places of worship 3 although itself inco!plete attests tolively religious life and the character of the environ!ent over the course of centuries. "heir density and

disposition is shown on the !ap in the appendix. Several large structures that supple!ent this picturehave, fortunately, survived. "he !ost significant of the!, as regards its influence and role in theorgani$ation of spiritual life and the preservation of national consciousness, was the atriarchate of ec3 until the fortunes of war turned against the ustrian general iccolo!ini whose ca!paign had wonsupport of the Serbian people in Kosovo. 9earing retribution, they were co!pelled to !ove into regionsacross the Sava and the anube (1B>;).

http://www.kosovo.net/declight.html



St. Sy!eon e!an-a 3 6oly 0irgin of D-evis, ri$ren 14th century

Post scriptum

"he first decades of the 1=th century !ark the beginning of the withdrawal of the <tto!an !pire. "heauthorities !oderated the position towards their sub-ects of other religions and after the firstSerbian.uprising (1=;431=1*) they were forced to accept the de!ands of the +reat owers, especially'ussia, to protect the hristian population in the #alkans. lthough after the #erlin ongress (1=:=)"urkey gave preference to isla!i$ed i!!igrant clans as a protection against Serbia and ?ontenegrowho were preparing to liberate their people, the SultanAs regular ar!y had to safeguard the !onasteriesin Kosovo against inroads and plunders of highlanders who descended into fertile plains. &n ecani,

evic and the atriarchate of ec there were garrisons of "urkish askers that fraternities provided withboard and lodging, -ust as they were paid by the Ghereditary chieftainsG fro! certain lbanian clans todefend the!.

&n 1>1*, when Serbia and ?ontenegro finally liberated Kosovo, ?etohi-a and the entire territory of <ldSerbia, <" S& +D &sla!ic shrine was de!olished or desecrated 3 not the #a-rakli ?os/ue in

ri$ren, the &!perial (9etih) ?os/ue in ristina, the 6adu!3?os/ue in -akovica, or ?uradAs "urbeh onthe field of Kosovo in which an icon la!p burns today on the site where Sultan ?urad & was killed. orhave any of the residences, towers or structures of historic i!port suffered, the best confir!ation of thisclai! being the Sinan asha ?os/ue in ri$ren, built exclusively with stones and frag!ents ofarchitectural decoration brought fro! the 6oly rchangels5 the <rthodox population and the authoritiesof the Kingdo! of Serbia did not allow their de!olition. G ruined shrine is still a holy placeG 3 states a

notice fro! that period 3 Gand to de!olish a place of worship that has beco!e a shrine of another faitha!ounts to co!!iting an evil deed. 'evenge is contrary to +odAs -ustice, always !ore pressing andattainable than hu!an.G

uring %orld %ar && when the territories of Kosovo and ?etohi-a were an &talian protectorate the local lbanian authorities atte!pted to de!olish the !e!orial church in -akovica along with the charnel3house of Serbian soldiers fallen in 1>1E. "his act was prevented by the &talian !ilitary co!!and. fterthe war, in 1>E;, the church 3 charnel3house was nevertheless pulled down by the local govern!ent onthe basis of a petition with signatures extorted fro! local Serbs, chiefly !e!bers of the o!!unistparty. t the sa!e ti!e, none of the 1= !os/ues and 1* tekias in -akovica were touched. Such an actencouraged atte!pts to devastate evic, da!age ecani and desecrate +racanica and the 6er!itageof St. eter of Korisa. 9inally, under circu!stances which were never officially explained, on 1B ?ay

1>=1, the large dor!itory of the ec atriarchate burned to the ground.&n our ti!es, the shrines in Kosovo continue to hold the attention of historians, art historians,archaeologists and conservators. considerable nu!ber of the! have been protected, and the work



undertaken has brought to light new and valuable discoveries. "he future of these culturally significantenterprises will depend on ele!entary living conditions and a readiness to put into effect internationalobligations contained in the convention on the protection of world cultural heritage adopted at the7nited ations onference held in 0ancouver in 1>:B. rticle no > reads as follows@ G"he right of eachcountry is to be, with full sovereignty, the inheritor of its own cultural values which are the fruit of itshistory, and it is its duty to treasure the! as values representing an inseparable part of the culturalheritage of !ankind.G

"he church of St. icholas, #ogosevac (nr. ri$ren), 14th century

the spiritual and cultural heritage of kosovo and metohia

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