In Collections and Academic Liaison, we work with many donations of books which add significantly to the University Library’s collections. While they chiefly inspire research amongst readers, they sometimes also inspire holidays amongst librarians. Thanks to Professor Nigel Morgan’s collection of books about North Macedonian churches, I spent an extraordinary week in Ohrid this autumn.
Professor Morgan’s interest in church architecture and decoration and his generous donations to the UL have featured in an earlier blog post, and that post makes reference to the books he has given us which relate to the Balkans. Ohrid, a major centre of Christian learning and culture from the 9th century and later, under Ottoman rule, becoming a significant city for trade, provides particularly rich church heritage. The church of Sveti Sofia (St Sophia), for example, was transformed into a mosque under the Ottomans and its frescoes covered with plaster. Centuries later, the frescoes – dating as far back as the 11th century – were uncovered. The images below show Sveta Sofia, from the front and also the exonarthex (or outer vestibule) at its rear. Note that the brickwork above the upper gallery in the latter photo has writing incorporated into it.
Before the trip, a week in Ohrid seemed possibly too long, but in practice it barely felt like enough. Having started with a trip across Lake Ohrid to the Sveti Naum monastery, at the sight of whose frescoes the friend I travelled with said, “If we see nothing else in the whole week, this is worth the entire visit,” we found that each church brought yet more jaw-dropping beauty. Below are photos of just some of them: the Sveti Naum monastery main church, two small Ohrid churches across the street from one another (only one of which is ever open at a time; Professor Morgan had tipped me off that the warden of the open one could be asked to lock that and unlock the other), the Sveta Bogorodica Perivlepta church where the fresco sequences are amazingly full and beautiful, and a collection of tickets issued for each visit. One tiny church whose key-holder we managed to track down thanks to instructions (also shown below) on the door to the churchyard was too small to have a ticket… Also included below is one of the mosques in Ohrid; this is the beautiful 18th-century Emin Mahmud mosque.
Taking photos inside the churches was not permitted, so sample images of these need to come from Professor Morgan’s books. These come, with apologies for poor reproductions on my part, from Painting and architecture in Medieval Macedonia : artists and works of art / Sašo Korunovski, Elizabeta Dimitrova (S950.d.201.118) and The Monastery of Saint Naum of Ohrid / Stojan Saveski (S950.e.201.9), and Živopisot na Ohridskata arhiepiskopija : studii / Cvetan Grozdanov (Paintings of the Ohrid archbishopric; S950.b.200.4880). Note that one of the frescoes below (in, of course, an Orthodox church (Sveti Sofia)) shows Roman popes.
The dozens of books about North Macedonian churches donated by Professor Morgan can be found by executing this search in iDiscover.
Mel Bach
Languages across Borders 