I love Byzantine churches and the best ones are those hidden in secluded areas. One of these is the church Sv. Pantelejmon at Горно Нерези, not far from Скопје in the Vodno mountains. It was three times painted with the oldest layer being from the 12th century CE; the newest one from the 19th century has been completely removed to reveal the ancient masterpieces. The specialty of this church built in 1164 is that it shows the depicted characters as persons with emotions which is pretty unusual.
The church is dedicated to saint Panteleimon (also named Pantaleon) whom you can see in an image surrounded by a fine-grained stone ornament. He was living in the mid of the third century CE at Nicomedia, todays İzmit, Turkey. Panteleimon is said to have been a healer, reanimating a child after a snakebite and making blind people see again. He is the patron saint of medical doctors and midwives.
Sv. Pantelejmon
Горно Нерези / Gorno Nerezi
North Macedonia
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