Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery

The Monastery of Sveti Jovan Bigorski ( Macedonian Манастир Свети Јован Бигорски ) is a company founded in the year 1020 Orthodox monastery in the west of present-day Republic of Macedonia.

Your good structural condition and a large six-row and wood framed iconostasis and a three-row gallery Orthodox saints and biblical motifs on the outer wall of the monastery church make it one of the main cultural attractions of the country. The name of the monastery derive from John the Baptist from, which is dedicated to the monastery. The nickname comes from the tufa Bigorski ( Macedonian: bigor ) from which was used as a building material.

Location

The monastery is located on a steep mountainside in a valley formed by the river Radika in Mavrovo National Park about 25 kilometers northeast of the town of Debar.

History

The monastery was built in the year 1020 by a monk Jovan of Debar, which belonged to the Archbishopric of Ohrid at the time of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. With the conquest of the region by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, the monastery has been largely destroyed, only a small church survived the destruction. In 1743 the reconstruction of the monastery began. In addition to the monastery church The iconostasis was created under the hands of local artists ( Debar school) in the 1829 bis 1835. Since 1897 the monastery belonged to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church again.

According to the political developments in the early 20th century, the monastery came to the Serbian Orthodox Church, before it was transferred to the independence of Macedonia to the Macedonian Orthodox Church. The present monastery brotherhood consists of four monks and three novices. For guests who want to be integrated into the monastic life, there is an end of the 20th century built guest house.

480730
de