St. Athanasius' Church, Moscopole

St. Athanasius' Church (Albanian: Kisha e Shën Thanasit, Greek: Ναός Αγίου Αθανασίου) is a Vlach Orthodox church in Moscopole, Albania.

St. Athanasius Church, Moscopole
Native names
Albanian: Kisha e ShënThanasit
Greek: Ναός Αγίου Αθανασίου
LocationMoscopole
Coordinates40.63806°N 20.58985°E / 40.63806; 20.58985
Cultural Monument of Albania

History and description

The church was erected in 1721.[1] The church now serves as a cemetery church in Moscopole.[2] It is a basilica-type church, with a central nave and two lateral aisles, and is found in the northeastern side of Moscopole, at the Akamnel neighborhood. The church has two cupolas that stay on two main pillars and eight surrounding columns. The dimensions of the two naves are 19m x 10.50m x 8m, and the length of the cupolas goes up to 9m. The apses are decorated externally by seven arches at the main entrance and four arches ones on each side. The side arches are topped by small windows. The cloister is 18.90m long dhe 2.85m large, surrounded by 6 arches, which stand on 5 columns, each covered by a double capitals.[3]

The church was declared a Cultural Monument of Albania.[4] however its icons have been stolen 5 times from 1990 to 2010. The last theft removed from the church icons painted in 1724.[5]

Decorated exonarthex of St. Athanasius' Church

References
  1. Tassos A. Mikropoulos. Elevating and Safeguarding Culture Using Tools of the Information Society, p. 315
  2. Kirchhainer, Karin (2003). "Iconographic Characteristics of the Churches in Moschopolis and Vithikuqi (Albania)" (PDF). Makedonika. 35 (04): 163–191. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  3. "Map - IMK WebGIS". imk.gov.al. IMK. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  4. "Religious buildings with the "Culture Monument" status". Republic of Albania National Committee for Cult. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  5. Albanian Television News. "Voskopojë, vidhet kisha". Retrieved 7 November 2010.
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