Corridor: Sofia-Ohrid Road
Country: FYR of Macedonia, Matejche, Kumanovo
Type: Christian religious centre
Epoch: Middle Ages
Theme: Christian Monasteries
World Heritage:

The monastery is situated high on the slopes of Skopska Crna Gora, above the village of Matejche, near Kumanovo. The monastery church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, is a five-dome building, erected and painted during the time of tsar Stefan Dushan Nemanjic (ca.1350), as a legacy from his family. The donor composition painted on the south wall, next to the alter screen, represents  tsar Dushan, his wife Elena and their son Urosh. The rich iconographical programme contains scenes of several cycles (Great Feasts, Christ’s Suffering, miracles, Appocryphical life and Akathistos of the Holy Mother, cycles from the life of St John the Baptist, St. Anthony the great, St. Demetrius), and many individual figures of saints. The painters were influenced by the court art style of the 14th century, since their painting is light, lacking contrasts and with softly modulated figures.

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