Lesnovo monastery
Lesnovo monastery
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| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Macedonian Orthodox Church (Eastern Orthodox Church) |
| Established | 14th century |
| Dedicated to |
St Michael St Gabriel of Lesnovo |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Jovan Oliver |
| Site | |
| Location | village Lesnovo, Macedonia |
| Public access | Yes |
Lesnovo monastery, officially called Monastery of St Archangel Michael and St Hermit Gabriel of Lesnovo (Macedonian Cyrilic: Свети Архангел Михаил и пустиножителот Гаврил Лесновски), is one of the most important medieval monuments of Macedonia. It is perhaps the best preserved endowment of a Serbian noble of the 14th century, with superb and excellently preserved frescoes. Its historical importance, above all as a literary center, is of equal importance.
The monastery is located on the south-west slopes of Mt Osogovo, in the middle of a volcanic crater. It lies at the beginning of Lesnovo village, at the height of 870 meters. The closest townlet is Zletovo which together with Lesnovo belongs to the municipality of Probištip.
The monastery is located in a secluded region which was popular with hermits of the 11th century. One of them, St Gabriel of Lesnovo, lived in the local caves and died there as well.
It remains still unsolved whether Gabriel founded a monastery or was it founded on the spot close to his hermitage. Very little is known of this original monastery since Gabriel’s relics were taken away and the first and only mention of the old monastery comes only from 1330 in a chronicle by its monk Stanislav, a famous writer.
The new monastic complex known today was founded in 1341 by Despotes Jovan Oliver Grčinić, a magnate of Serbian kingdom who owned the surrounding area. Jovan Oliver built a church dedicated to St Michael as well as new dwellings and bestowed a charter to Lesnovo in which he lists its numerous possessions. The monastery became immediately very rich, attracting a large and well educated fraternity. Next year (1342) Oliver gave the monastery with all its belongings to Chilandar, the highly revered Serbian monastery on Holy Mount Athos.
In the Serbian state assembly held in Skopje in 1347 Emperor Dušan pronounced Lesnovo monastery as the seat of the newly established Zletovo bishopric. The new bishopric was intended to fill in the gap of the old, non-functional Morozvizd bishopric. Lesnovo received a new charter by which it was released from the power of Chilandar, got new villages and freed the peasants in them from state duties. As its founder, Jovan Oliver retained the right to appoint the abbot and to be present at the election of the bishop of Zletovo. Most importantly, as the new seat of the bishopric the monastery church was enlarged with a narthex.
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Wikipedia