Pregledni rad
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2024.7
Church of St Nicholas in the Orahovica Monastery: history, research and restoration challenges
Ivana Popović
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod, Odjel za graditeljsko naslijeđe
Bernarda Ratančić
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod, Odjel za konzervatorsku dokumentaciju nepokretne baštine
Sažetak
The Orahovica Monastery is one of the most important cultural and religious centres of the Orthodox population in Slavonia, and its establishment and activity are an indicator of political and historical circumstances. The monastery church, dedicated to the Translation of the Relics of St Nicholas, was built in the last decade of the 16th century, and its construction and furnishing were caused by the political and religious position of the Serbian Orthodox Church and its basic organizational unit, the Patriarchate of Peć, within the Ottoman Empire. The choice of architecture and the iconographic programme of the wall paintings show a clear intention to evoke medieval heritage and highlight national identity. The architecture of the church follows medieval models of the Morava style, which makes this church stand out as the only monument of this style in Croatia. The layout of the church has the form of a cross with a trefoil conclusion with a high drum rising from the centre supported by four octagonal columns. The vaulted outer narthex was later added in front of the western façade. The design of the unplastered façade is characterized by alternating rows of stone and brick, but the vault and drum, added later, was built exclusively of stone. The drum, which is octagonal on the outside and circular on the inside, was originally built of finely-shaped stone blocks, while the middle of the wall is made of smaller pieces of stone with a larger proportion of lime mortar. Although the front of the drum was originally unplastered, with visible carved decorative details, today it is plastered and painted. The sides of the drum are open with tall, narrow windows that have stepped indented stone frames. The interior of the church was painted immediately after construction, and the iconographic programme of wall paintings is also a reflection of historical circumstances and the aspirations of the Patriarchate of Peć to strengthen its position within the Empire. Although the vast majority of wall and vault surfaces were painted in the first half of the 19th century, the visible depictions on the surfaces of the octagonal columns send a clear message. The Nemanjić and Lazarević families, medieval rulers of Serbia, are portrayed on the northeast column with figures of the first twelve archbishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Tree of Jesse, i.e. the genealogy of Christ, is depicted on the opposite, southeast column. Conservation and restoration research, conducted by the Croatian Conservation Institute, has found that the wall paintings were preserved to a greater extent than previously suspected, but numerous sources of damage to the paintings and the architecture of the entire church have also been documented. The discovery of valuable frescoes was the incentive for extensive activities of the Croatian Conservation Institute in the Orahovica Monastery to determine the causes of large cracks in the church’s construction and identify the main sources of damage to the plastered and painted layers. The renovation began with the removal of inadequate cement plaster from the lower zones of the walls in the interior that had accelerated the rise of capillary moisture and damage to the painted layer. Several strong earthquakes in the past had caused severe damage to the masonry structure of the drum, and its reconstruction presents a number of technical and conservation problems. The constructive renovation that has begun will consolidate the masonry of the drum, and enable the start of work on the discovery, restoration and presentation of the extremely valuable wall paintings in the interior.
Ključne riječi
Orahovica Monastery; Moravian style; Orthodox architecture in Slavonia; wall painting; reconstruction
Hrčak ID:
325608
URI
Datum izdavanja:
19.12.2024.
Posjeta: 43 *