Kurbinovo, North Macedonia, June 15, 2023
Photo: wikimedia.org
Conservators from the Thessaloniki-based European Centre for Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments (EKBMM) has completed the first phase of the conservation of the beautiful Byzantine frescoes of the Church of St. George in Kurbino, North Macedonia.
Photo: wikimedia.org
The milestone comes two years after the EKBMM signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Minister of Culture of North Macedonia, the EKBMM reports.
Photo: wikimedia.org
In particular, the Centre, with funding from the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports, prepared and implemented a conservation study, documenting prior damages and interventions on the frescoes. The conservators then set to work consolidating and crowning the frescoes.
The next phase is an extensive cleaning of the frescoes, to be launched next month and expected to be completed within a year.
Photo: wikimedia.org
The Church of St. George, built in 1191, part of the Diocese of Prespa and Pelagonia of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric, is considered the most important example of fresco painting from the Komnenos era (1059-1204). It is a cultural monument of North Macedonia, protected both by the state and UNESCO.
Photo: wikimedia.org
The church is covered with frescoes from top to bottom, including St. Panteleimon, Sts. Cosmas and Damian, Sts. Constantine and Helen, St. Thekla, St. Petka, St. Barbara, St. Catherine, St. Clement of Ohrid, the Annunciation, Nativity, the Raising of Lazarus, the Theotokos enthroned with the Christ Child, and many more.
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