Monastery of Saint Naum

Macedonian Orthodox Monastery

40°54′50″N 20°44′25.8″E / 40.91389°N 20.740500°E / 40.91389; 20.740500Public accessyes

The Monastery of Saint Naum (Macedonian: Манастир „Свети Наум“) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in North Macedonia, named after the medieval Bulgarian^[1] writer and enlightener Saint Naum who founded it.^[2] It is situated along Lake Ohrid, 29 kilometres (18 mi) south of the city of Ohrid, within the boundary of the village of Ljubaništa.

The Lake Ohrid area, including St Naum, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in North Macedonia.^[3]

History

The monastery was established in the Bulgarian Empire in 905^[4] by St Naum of Ohrid himself. St Naum is also buried in the church.

Since the 16th century, a Greek school had functioned in the monastery.^[5] The monastery had close ties with the printing house of Moscopole, a former prosperous Aromanian city now in Albania.^[6] The area where the monastery of St Naum^[7] lies belonged to Albania for a short period from 1912 until June 28, 1925, when Zog of Albania ceded it to Yugoslavia as a result of negotiations between Albania and Yugoslavia and as a gesture of goodwill.^[8]

In the arts

Rebecca West devoted a chapter of Black Lamb and Grey Falcon to her visit to Sveti Naum, which occurred in 1937.

Gallery

Exterior of Saint Naum Monastery from Lake Ohrid
Lake Ohrid from the monastery
A dome inside
Postcard of Ohrid, Monastery of Saint Naum from 1934

References

^ The early medieval Balkans: a critical survey from the sixth to the late twelfth century, John Van Antwerp Fine, University of Michigan Press, 1991, ISBN 0-472-08149-7, p. 128.
^ ohrid.org.mk Archived February 25, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
^ Southeast European Times
^ Bechev, Dimitar (13 April 2009). Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia. p. 159. ISBN 9780810862951.
^ Skendi, Stavro (1967). The Albanian national awakening, 1878-1912. Princeton University Press. pp. 17. Greek schools are mentioned in 1723 in nearby Korce.
^ Mikropoulos, Tassos A. (2008). Elevating and Safeguarding Culture Using Tools of the Information Society: Dusty traces of the Muslim culture. Earthlab. p. 315. ISBN 978-960-233-187-3.
^ Elsie, Robert (2000). "The Christian Saints of Albania". Balkanistica. 13. American Association for South Slavic Studies: 52. The cult of Saint Naum spread in the first half of the 18th century with the flourishing of Voskopoja KO as a center of Orthodox culture and with the rise of the Archdiocese of Achrida (Ohrid). His fame extended from here southwards to Mount Athos and northwards up to Vienna. His image is to be seen in the frescoes of the churches of Voskopoja, Shipska KO and Vithkuq KO. The Bektashi also went on pilgrimage to the monastery of Saint Naum, believing their holy man Sari Saltik to be buried there. Saint Naum's original feast day was December 23, but in 1727 on the authority of the Archbishop of Achrida, it was changed to June 20 to make pilgrimages less strenuous in the continental climate of the interior of the Balkans.
^ Pearson, Owen (2004). Albania and King Zog: independence, republic and monarchy 1908-1939. IB Tauris. p. 248. ISBN 9781845110130. Retrieved 2010-05-30.