Kriva Palanka, North Macedonia, December 7, 2020
Photo: mitropolija.com
New inscriptions have been discovered on old frescoes at St. Joachim of Osogovo Monastery in Kriva Palanka, North Macedonia.
In particular, the names of several prominent Serbian saints have been replaced with those of non-Serbian saints, reports the site of the Montenegrin Metropolis of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Recall that the “Macedonian Orthodox Church” began its life as a schism from the Serbian Church in the 1960s.
Changes to the frescoes painted by Dimitr Andonov in 1932-1933 were discovered by employees of the SPONA Serbian Cultural Information Center from Skopje during a visit to the monastery. The frescoes with the renamed saints are located in the main monastery church, built in 1847-1851.
SPONA believes this is a case of the falsification and rewriting of historical heritage, and calls on the competent institutions to restore the frescoes to their original form.
“At the entrance to the large monastery church, you can see imposing figures of saints painted according to the model of frescoes in medieval churches built with donations from the Serbian King Milutin,” SPONA said in a statement.
Photo: mitropolija.com
“The frescoes depict richly decorated pearl robes, imperial and royal insignia, as well as the faces of famous rulers and the archbishop. Instead of the original inscriptions above the figures of Sts. Tsar Uroš, Tsar Lazar, King Milutin, Stefan of Dečani, Archbishop Nikodim of Serbia, and Stefan the First-Crowned, the new inscriptions are of Sts. Prince Vladimir of Kiev, Tsar John the Merciful, Emperor Constantine the Great, Nikephoros Phokas, Constantine Cabasilas of Ochrid, and Justinian I,” SPONA detailed.
It is believed the inscriptions were made sometime this year, without permission of the competent authorities. The sloppiness of the new inscriptions indicate they were made by an amateur, or in a rush.
SNOPA also specified that only Serbian saints were renamed, sending a clear and unambiguous message from deniers of the collective historical memory of the Serbian and Macedonian peoples.
It is important for future generations for the cultural heritage of the Republic to be preserved in its original form, SPONA said.
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