Orthodox church · carved iconostasis 1824
A small 16th-century church partly below ground, known for its carved walnut iconostasis of 1824; Goce Delčev's tomb is in the yard.
These are the stories you can open in the 3D view, each at its own numbered point on the model.
The Church of St. Saviour stands on the slope just east of Kale. It was built in the 16th century and given its present look in the 19th. From the courtyard it reads as a long, low building under one wide roof, because its floor lies below the level of the yard. Services are held here only on its feast day, Spasovden.
Steps lead down from the door to the floor of the church, below the courtyard. The usual explanation is that, under Ottoman rule, a church could not be taller than a mosque, so builders sank it into the ground. That explanation is a tradition rather than a documented rule, and it is told here as such.
Inside stands the iconostasis, the screen of icons between the nave and the altar. It was finished in 1824 and carved in walnut. It is about 10 metres long and 4.5 metres high, rising to about 7 metres at the centre under the cross; one source gives a little over six. The carving runs in five horizontal zones and includes scenes and figures. Use the Inside button to lift the roof.
The iconostasis was carved by Mijak woodcarvers. The master usually named is Petre Filipovski, called Garkata, from the village of Gari. Other sources add the names Makarije Frčkovski and Marko Filipovski; those attributions could not be checked here. In the model the carving is drawn schematically.
Inside, the church has three aisles divided by rows of columns, and the middle aisle is vaulted. At the west end, over the entrance, is a gallery that was set aside for women. Because the floor lies below the courtyard, the interior is taller than the low walls suggest from outside.
During repairs in 1963 and 1964, a wall painting of the 16th or 17th century was found on the south wall, above the level of today's floor. It shows that the church is older than its 19th-century look. The long south side is shaded by a timber veranda under the deep eaves.
In the courtyard, between beds of flowers, stands the white marble sarcophagus of Goce Delčev, the revolutionary, who lived from 1872 to 1903. The courtyard is paved with large irregular stone slabs and enclosed by walls and small two-storey houses of stone and brick.
The courtyard is entered through a heavy oak gate in a stone gatehouse. Above it stands a small dark timber belfry with two tiers of tiled roofs and a cross. From the street outside, the belfry and the low grey roof behind it are almost all you see of the church.
Typical prices are our estimates for orientation, not menu prices. Check opening hours on the spot.
Walk around the model, switch between day and night, and hear each story read aloud in English, Macedonian or Turkish.
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