Wall Painting of Maximos the Confessor

As one member of the delegation that went to Macedonia in October, I was glad to have the chance to explore some of the rich history of the land. As a Protestant scholar, it was, of course, a great privilege and honor to be asked by the Orthodox Theological Faculty to present a paper to the faculty and students of the seminary. My paper was entitled, “Advice from St. Maximos Confessor for Contemporary Macedonians.” It had already been translated into Macedonian and, after some preliminary comments from me, my good friend Professor Ratomir Grozdanoski read the Macedonian translation to the assembly.

While in Skopje, I took the opportunity to visit the remains of the Turkish fort in Upper Kale, strategically situated on the bluffs above the River Vardar. This had been the location from which the Serbian monarch Stjepan Dušan had ruled the expanding Serbian Empire in the 14th century; it became the center of Ottoman Turkish rule for the region after the defeat of the Serbian forces at the Battle of Kosovo-Polje in 1389. The Ottoman Turks ruled the region for the next five centuries, leaving marks of their long residence in the Ali Pasha mosque and the nearby market streets.

Near the fort is a museum dedicated to the Macedonian hero Gotse Delchev, who fought to bring an end to Turkish rule. His sarcophagus stands outside the museum , and the city park has a statue of him.

The Orthodox Church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Strumitsa stands on a site where Emperor Justinian the Great had originally erected a church (later destroyed by fire). During the Ottoman occupation, Christian churches were not allowed to rise higher architecturally than Muslim mosques, so the church on this high spot found it necessary to worship in the basement of the structure. The magnificent hand-carved iconostasis testifies both to the remarkable skill of Macedonian craftsmen, long known for wood-carving expertise, and to the Christian commitment of the worshippers. Once Ottoman rule came to an end, the upper floor of the church received the same attention.

Icon of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste within Saint Leontios Church

Only a few miles away, in the village of Vodocha, stands St. Leontios Orthodox Church, erected in the mid-11th century near the spot where Emperor Basil II “Bulgaroctonos” (“the Bulgar-slayer”) exacted cruel revenge for the humiliating treatment accorded Emperor Nikephoros I in the early 800s by Khan Krum, the founder of the Bulgarian state. In 1014, Basil ordered that the 15,000-strong Bulgarian army which had been captured should be divided into groups of 100; of them, 99 were blinded, with the other soldier blinded in one eye. The Bulgarian army was then ordered to take hands and march back to Prespa, capital of the Bulgarian Empire. The shock was so severe that the Bulgarian Tsar Samuil died, and the First Bulgarian Empire came to an end. The village bears a name recalling this gruesome event: “Vodocha” means “poked eye.” Within the St. Leontios Church, an icon of the 40 martyrs of Sebaste (soldiers martyred in the 2nd century) is rendered with the soldiers agonizingly touching their empty eye sockets. St. Leontios Church is the only place in the world where this icon is so portrayed.

In Ochrid stands St. Panteleimon Orthodox Church, a historical treasure. Founded in the 4th century, the original baptistery, surrounded by intricate mosaics, is being excavated and restored. Subsequently destroyed, the church was reestablished in the late 9th century and dedicated to St. Panteleimon by St. Clement of Ohrid, a disciple of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. St. Clement of Ohrid, the first Slav appointed a bishop, set up a remarkable school in Ohrid which trained some 3500 Slavs in the Slavic script and prepared them to serve as priests and translators for the burgeoning Slavic Christian civilization. St. Panteleimon Church is being carefully restored. It houses the sarcophagus of St. Clement of Ohrid, one of the patron saints of Macedonia. Indeed, whether in Skopje or in Ohrid or anywhere else in the country, one is never far from a reminder of the historic roots of religion in Macedonia – as can be seen with the contemporary statue of the Apostles of the Slavs, St. Cyril and Methodius, in the public square at the edge of Lake Ohrid, in the heart of the city.

The Orthodox Church of Saint Panteleimon

Make sure to check out our photo gallery section for this article