Andrey Damyanov (; ; ) (1813–1878), or Andreja Damjanović was an architect from the modern-day

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. His works include more than 40 buildings, most of them churches, built between 1835 and 1878, and spread along the

Vardar The Vardar (; , , ) or Axios (, ) is the longest river in North Macedonia and a major river in Greece, where it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of ...

and

Morava Valley The Morava Valley ( / ''Pomoravlje'', ), is a general term which in its widest sense marks valleys of any of three Morava rivers in Serbia: the West Morava ( West Morava Valley), the South Morava ( South Morava Valley) and the Great Morava ( ...

, with an extension of his works found in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

as well.Journal Balkanologie
by Bernard Lory, December 2002, retrieved 3-4-2018

Origin

Damyanov has often been included in histories of the

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n architectural literature, but his biography does not reveal the existence of specific national motivation behind his works. He has been also described as a "Macedonian master" in

, but Macedonian identity was inchoate at that time. Andrey Damyanov comes from a notable Mijak family of architects,

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

-painters and sculptors originating in

Debar Debar ( ; , sq-definite, Dibra or Dibra e Madhe) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar has an ethnic Albanian majorit ...

, western

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

, the Renzovski-Zografski-Dospevski. His grandfather is Siljan Renzovski who was mentioned in the construction of

Veles Veles may refer to: *Veles (god), a Slavic god *Veles Municipality, in North Macedonia *Veles, North Macedonia, a city, seat of the municipality, formerly called Titov Veles *Veles Bastion, Stribog Mountains on Brabant Island, Antarctica *Veles, s ...

-quarters of Emin Aga. For him is known data, that his group worked in

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

and

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. Sons of Siljan, Jankula and Stephen, were also builders and worked in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

Kavala Kavala (, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the A2 motorway, a one-and ...

Serres Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The c ...

and

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

. His father, Damjan, was a church builder in Greece. Andrey had three brothers, Gjorgi the painter, Nikola the wood carver, and Kosta, who helped them all. Andrey had a son, Dame, who worked at the seminary and a church in

Prizren Prizren ( sq-definite, Prizreni, ; sr-cyr, Призрен) is the second List of cities and towns in Kosovo, most populous city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and District of Prizren, ...

, and the church in

Kosovska Mitrovica Mitrovica (Albanian language, Albanian Definiteness, indefinite Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Mitrovicë''; sr-Cyrl, Митровица, Mitrovica), also referred to as Kosovska Mitrovica ( sr-Cyrl, Косовска Митр� ...

. Andrey was the grandfather of the Bulgarian architect and war-time officer Simeon Zografov.

Work and legacy

Damyanov and his team (''tayfa'') travelled and worked throughout the

Ottoman Balkans Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and vassals in Europe. These w ...

and his works can be found not only in modern-day

, but in Serbia and

as well. His oeuvre includes more than 40 buildings, most of them churches, notably the church of St. Panteleimon in

(1840), the monastery church of St. Joachim of Osogovo, near

Kriva Palanka Kriva Palanka ( ) is a town located in the northeastern part of North Macedonia. It has 13,481 inhabitants. The town of Kriva Palanka is the seat of Kriva Palanka Municipality which has 18,059 inhabitants. The town lies near the ''Deve Bair'' ...

(1845), The Holy Mother of God in the village of Novo Selo near

Štip Štip ( ) is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of North Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2021 census, the city of Štip had ...

(1850) and St. Nicholas in

Kumanovo Kumanovo ( ; , sq-definite, Kumanova; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is the second-largest city in North Macedonia after the capital Skopje and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the List of municipalities in the Republic ...

(1851) as well as his churches in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

, Nova Crkva,

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

, and

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

( Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos). Adapting to the social demand of its Serbian sponsors, Damyanov combined simultaneously traditional elements of the 15th century

Morava architectural school Morava architectural school (, sr-Cyrl, Моравска школа архитeктуре), also known as the Morava style (, sr-Cyrl, Моравски стил), or simply as the Morava school (, sr-Cyrl, Моравска школа, link=no), ...

with Occidental baroque elements found north of

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

river.

Award

In his honor, in

from December 28, 1989, the Andrey Damyanov Award is granted to an architect who contributed to the order and the development of Macedonian architecture.

References

External links

Life and Work of Andreja Damjanov on ''TresoncheWeb''; in Macedonian, but including many pictures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Damyanov, Andrey 1813 births 1878 deaths Architects from the Ottoman Empire People from Kumanovo Engineers from the Ottoman Empire