We had been told that the remains of Goce Delcev (1872-1903), important revolutionary figure, were here. (The remains were brought here in 1946.) And so this church had been on our list of things we wanted to do in Skopje. It is beside (on the east side) the Kale Fortress, so we used this opportunity to visit the church (now a museum).
It is easy to miss the Sveti Spas church from the street -- it kind of blends in with its surroundings and almost looks like a house. We learned on our tour that this was by design. Nothing could be built taller or more ornate than the mosques, and with this humble facade, it could go undetected (or, at least be tolerated). In fact, when you enter the church, you go down a flight of stairs. Once inside, you are impressed by the frescoes and by the wood carvings - and you look up in awe as God looks down on you (not Jesus, as in other Orthodox churches we have visited). The guide explained that the reason we went down the stairs in order to enter the church was so that we could still look up at this beautiful ceiling - but that it would not be so tall from the outside as to attract unwanted attention.
This church was built in the 17th or 18th century, on the site of a previous church. The iconostasis - hand-carved walnut - is truly spectacular. The columns have 3-D figures carved within it. No photographs can be taken inside - although I doubt my camera could do justice to the wood carvings, every centimeter decorated with beautiful figures.
For more information, see:
http://travel2macedonia.com.mk/tourist-attraction/holy-saviour-church-skopje
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| Goce Delcev |
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| the courtyard |
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| the walls along the outside of the church (you can see the bell tower) |
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| not the best picture of trying to get the mosque that was overlooking this church during the Ottoman Empire (perhaps you can see the minaret?) |
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