Treskavec Monastery, a medieval pilgrimage site founded in the twelfth century, sits atop a remote mountain in southern Macedonia, a steep eight-kilometer hike from the town of Prilep. The monastic complex includes the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin. Both the church and other structures underwent periods of growth from the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. (...)
Treskavec Monastery, a medieval pilgrimage site founded in the twelfth century, sits atop a remote mountain in southern Macedonia, a steep eight-kilometer hike from the town of Prilep. The monastic complex includes the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin. Both the church and other structures underwent periods of growth from the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. However, they retain important inscriptions and historical portraits that link them to Byzantine and Serbian patronage. The church preserves a highly significant body of frescoes from the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and nineteenth centuries, including the first known representation of the Heavenly Court; almost no space in the walls remains unpainted.
The monastery has been in continuous use since the Middle Ages, when over 100 monks resided there. After World War II, monastic life in the region decreased dramatically until the fall of the former Yugoslavia. For years, the monastery has been under the care of a single monk. Insufficient maintenance and age have allowed water ingress, which has affected structural stability and damaged the some of the murals. Inappropriate treatments and the use of new materials in previous partial repairs have caused further problems.
