SAINT-PANTELEIMON CHURCH (СВЕТИ ПАНТЕЛЕЈМОН СВЕТИ)

Placed at 580 m above sea level, on the northern flank of Mount Vodno, this Orthodox church (Црква Свети Пантелејмон/Crkva Sveti Pantelejmon) is home to exceptional ^12th-century frescoes. Dedicated to St. Pantaleon of Nicomedia, it belonged to a monastery founded in 1164 by the Byzantine imperial Comnenes family (1081-1185). The monastery was active until 1555, when it was partially destroyed by an earthquake. Built of brick and irregular stone blocks, the church has a cross-shaped plan with a main dome mounted on a drum, four secondary domes, three naves and a rectangular narthex. It retains its ^12th-century marble iconostasis, but this lost its decorative elements during the earthquake. The church is surrounded by walls and by buildings of the old complex which normally house a restaurant (closed during our last visit). The church was restored in 1885 and the original frescoes covered with new paintings. The main dome was rebuilt and decorated with a Christ Pantocrator ("Almighty"). During a new restoration in 1923, the ^12th century frescoes were rediscovered. If some parts are missing, the essential of the scenes could be saved. Note in particular the scene of the Lamentation of Christ, on the north wall, under the window.

Realism and emotion. By their bright colors and the purity of their composition, these frescoes are a very rare testimony of the Byzantine art of the Comnenes dynasty, with for only equivalent those of the monastery of Latomou, in Thessalonica, classified as world heritage by Unesco. Created by four or five anonymous painters, probably under the direction of a great master from Constantinople, they are also the first known iconographic representation of the "threne" (lamentation of Christ by the Virgin and burial) which began to develop in the ^12th century in Christendom. Finally, the frescoes of Nerezi are surprising in their realism and emotion, which contrast with the usual static aspect of Byzantine frescoes. They prefigured the work of the Italian Primitives who would develop the humanity and realism of their characters 150 years later, paving the way for the Renaissance movement. The scene of the Lamentation of Christ is reminiscent of the same scene painted by Giotto in the church of the Arena in Padua around 1305.