Saint Gjorgi monastery, Kurbinovo

elevation / altitude

961 meters

distance

12.56 km from main square / Resen

  about Saint Gjorgi monastery

In the Prespa region, near the picturesque village of Kurbinovo, embraced by the mountain Pelister there is the church dedicated to St, George. According to the time of its fresco-decoration, it is supposed that the church was built in the year 1191. There are still no other reliable documented data on it.
In the 19th century, the church in Kurbinovo was renovated, and in the first decades of the 20th century, a wooden ceiling and the porch were built, and the southern and the northern entrances were closed and transformed into two windows.
What impresses and amazes in this church is its fresco-painting, which, coupled by the one in the church Sveti Panteleimon near Skopje, represents an original and a peak of the artistic mastery in the times of the art of Komnens in Macedonia.
On the west facade, there are visible remnants of frescoes with depictions of female and male characters in full size, vested in imperial clothes, as well as a figure of a church nobleman. It is most probably a depiction of the people who built the original small church.The fresco-painting in the interior of the church is divided into three zones. The drawing is expressive, dynamic, with accentuated slenderness, vivaciousness and movement of the painted figures. Typical is the depiction of the drapes that are vivacious in baroque style, with a great number of animated folds. The frescoes illustrate scenes from the life of Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary. In the altar apse, the composition Annunciation is painted, that has made this church exclusive and a part of the annals of the peak achievements of the Byzantine fresco-painting. The depiction of the Archangel Gabriel stands out in it. It has almost become a symbol and landmark of the church in Kurbinovo. Interesting and rare are the depictions of Jesus Christ and the patron of the church, St. George, from the north and the south wall, with a monumental size. Outstanding among the frescoes are the portraits of Ana and its daughter Mary, the Mother of God, painted in the lower zone of the south wall of the naos, as well as the portraits of the Macedonian enlighteners Cyril and Methodius, in the altar space. The depiction of St. Methodius is its oldest portrait known in the entire Slavic-Byzantine world. Opposite from them, there is the figure of St. Clement of Ohrid.
The fresco-painting in the temple St. George is a synthesis of infusible into a single entity, a junction of its pinnacle elegance and the high expressiveness.