In the heavenly horizons three Christian temples in the region of Matka near Skopje

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of chronological determination of three sacral edifices located in the middle, as well as in the highest cultural horizon of the region of Matka near Skopje. Due to the lack of historical sources, as well as preserved portions of the original fresco ensembles, the buildings are dated on the ground of their architectural features and according to the archeological finds discovered in their vicinity. In that regard, the church of St. Kyriake on the highest mountain post of Matka is dated in the first half of the fourteenth century, the temple of St. Archangel Michael at the site of Peter’s Rock in the late twelfth, while the church dedicated to St. Saviour, as a restoration of the later, was repeatedly built in the period between the late thirteenth and the second half of the twentieth century.