SAINT-NICOLAS DE MANASTIR CHURCH
This Orthodox church (Црква Свети Никола/Crkva Sveti Nikola) features frescoes dating from 1271 that survived the destruction of the First World War. Located in the hamlet of Manastir, 690 m above sea level, it was part of a monastery founded by Byzantine aristocrat Alexis Comnenus in 1095 and restored in 1266 by a higoumen (abbot) named Akakios. The rest of the buildings were destroyed in 1916. The church takes the form of a basilica with three naves: there are only four buildings of this type in the country, including Saint Sophia Cathedral in Ohrid. The central nave features scenes from the life of Christ and portraits of saints Demetrios, George, Theodore Tiron and Theodore the Stratilate. The south aisle is decorated with scenes from the life of Saint Nicholas. In the north aisle, the portrait of the higoumene Akakios, who carries the church in miniature, remains. Manastir officially has three inhabitants and is part of the mountainous Mariovo region. Intense fighting took place here between the Serbian and Bulgarian armies in September 1916. Some 23 km to the south as the crow flies, on the summit of Mount Kajmakčalan (2,528 m above sea level), between Greece and northern Macedonia, stands a chapel that preserves the skulls of some of the 4,643 Serbian soldiers who died during the confrontation. The Bulgarians suffered fewer casualties (1,876 dead), but were forced to retreat, allowing French, Serbian and Russian troops to take Bitola in November 1916.
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