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Name of Monument:

Monastery of St. John at Bigor

Location:

Mt. Bistra near Debar, North Macedonia

Responsible Institution:

Cultural Heritage Protection Office

 About Museum of Macedonia, Mt. Bistra near Debar

Date of Monument:

Restored in the 18th century, it was expanded and additional wings built in the span of 1812-1825

Architect(s) / Master-builder(s):

Local construction masters and wood-carving craftsmen: Petre Filipovski Garkata, his brother Marko Filipovski and Makarija Frchkovski

History:

According to monastery chronicles, the original church was built in 1020 by the first Archbishop of Ohrid, Ivan I. Debranin (1018–1037). It was ruined in the 16th century and restored by the monk Ilarion in 1743. In the span of 1812–1825 during Archimandrite Arsenie (1807–1825) major reconstruction and expansion of the monastery was carried out. From about the same time comes also the exquisite wooden iconostasis. It is considered a masterpiece of Byzantine sculptural art.

Description:

Situated on the steep slopes of the Bistra Mountain near Debar and rising above the banks of the Radika river, the Monastery of St. John at Bigor is one of the most beautiful edifices in Macedonia. The church within the Monastery is devoted to St. John the Baptist. It preserves the exquisitely carved walnut iconostasis. The iconostasis, which depicts scenes from the Old and the New Testaments, was created by the most outstanding Macedonian masters of wood-carving: Petre Filipovski Garkata and his brothers Marko and Makarij Frchkovski. The monastery complex nowadays comprises the monastery church, the chamber-tomb, defence tower, icon gallery arranged in the dining room and the monastery lodgings.

Citation of this web page:

Nada Andonovska "Monastery of St. John at Bigor" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;AWE;mc;2;en

Prepared by: Nada Andonovska
Copyedited by: Daniel de la VegaDaniel de la Vega

Daniel de la Vega is a copy editor based in Portland, Oregon. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in linguistics from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2014 and has since done editing and localization work on everything from college applications to magazines to video game dialogue.

MWNF Working Number: MC 002

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