Црква „Св. Константин и Елена“
Photo: Македонец, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Built in 1477, this church sits just southeast of Saint Mary Perivleptos. It is a small church with a single nave. The whole interior is painted with frescoes.
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Црква „Св. Кузман и Дамјан“
Further southeast of Saints Constantine and Elena, is this small church, also built in the 14th century. It has great frescoes, including one which is depicted on the 1,000-denar banknote. It also has a wooden iconostasis.
Црква „Пресвета Богородица Перивлептос“
This church was built and painted in 1295. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary; "Perivleptos" (from the Greek Περίβλεπτος) is an attribute given to her meaning "the Omniscient and Clairvoyant." The benefactor in its construction was the son-in-law of Byzantine Emperor Andronicus II. The church was painted by Michael and Eutychius, two young painters. Their work shows that styles later adopted in the Renaissance were already current in Byzantine art long before Gioto. The frescoes they painted have all the elements of Renaissance art except perspective. Important frescoes include, on the eastern wall, the detailed portraits of Saint Clement and Constantine Kavasila (former Archbishop of Ohrid) and the Lamentation of Christ painted with much emotions. On the western wall, in the Prayer on the Olive Mountain as the apostles are sleeping, take a look at their dress and how well the artists worked with color and showed the roundness of the bodies. On the northern wall, in the Death of the Virgin Mary, in order to present the holiness of the moment, there is a group of angels coming from the gates of the sky to take her soul, above her stands Jesus holding her soul. The figures are not presented the traditional Byzantine way, skinny, and emotionless. The painters were also the first Byzantine artists to sign their work (on 20 hidden locations, look on the front columns at the sword and the cloth of two holy warriors).
Галерија на икони
Within the complex of the Church of Saint Mary Perivleptos, this gallery contains some of the best examples of the iconographic art in North Macedonia. It is considered to be the second-most important and valuable collection of icons in the world after the Moscow collection.
Црква „Св. Димитриј“
Just east of Saint Mary Perivleptos is this 14th century church, dedicated to Saint Demetrius. The three-nave church has high quality frescoes.
Црква „Св. Богородица Челница“
This 14th-century church in the old town is notable for being perhaps the only two-nave church in the country. Its oldest frescoes date from the 14th century, but the church was mostly repainted in the 19th century by notable artists from the Debar area.
Црква „Св. Климент Охридски“
This small, well-hidden church, built in the 14th century, is just a few steps away from the Bolnički churches, in the heart of the old town. The church is historically important since it is here that the bones of St. Clement were hidden after the Turks took the city and converted Saint Pantaleon to a mosque. It also has well-preserved frescoes. The church is locked; ask around the neighbouring houses for the key.