St. Michael's Church, Moscopole

St. Michael's Church
Native names:
Albanian: Kisha e Shën Mëhillit
Greek: Ιερός Ναός Ταξιαρχών
Location: Moscopole
Coordinates:
Cultural Monument of Albania

St. Michael's Church (Albanian: Kisha e Shën Mëhillit or Kisha Kryeengjëjt Mihail dhe Gavriil[1], Greek: Ιερός Ναός Αρχαγγέλων Μιχαήλ και Γαβριήλ or Ιερός Ναός Ταξιαρχών)[2], also known as Church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel[3] is an Orthodox church in Moscopole, modern southeastern Albania. The church was built in 1722 and is one out of five remaining churches standing in the once prosperous Aromanian metropolis of Moscopole.[4]

During the prohibition of religion in Albania, in 1948, it was declared a Cultural Monument of Albania.[5] In 1996 the church became a target of vandalism with 23 paintings of Saints being heavily damaged.[6]

References

  1. ^ Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania (Albanian)
  2. ^ Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania (Greek)
  3. ^ Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania (English)
  4. ^ Mikropoulos, Tassos A. (2008). Elevating and Safeguarding Culture Using Tools of the Information Society: Dusty traces of the Muslim culture. Earthlab. p. 316. ISBN 9789602331873. http://books.google.com/?id=optXTg3ovBYC&q=moschopolis#v=snippet&q=moschopolis. 
  5. ^ "Religious buildings with the "Culture Monument" status". Republic of Albania National Committee for Cult. http://kshk.gov.al/index.php?fq=brenda&gj=gj2&kid=19. Retrieved October 28, 2010. 
  6. ^ Robert Elsie. Peyfuß, Max Demeter: Die Druckerei von Moschopolis, 1731-1769. Buchdruck, p. 1