The Church of Saints Clement and Panteleimon (; ) is a Byzantine church situated on

Plaošnik Plaošnik or simply Plaoš () is an archaeological site and holy place in Ohrid, North Macedonia, located 250 meters south of Samuil's Fortress, Ohrid, Samuil's Fortress. The site is in the process of being restored to its original condition. ...

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

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 ...

. It is attributed to Saint Clement of Ohrid, a disciple of Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius. Archaeologists have come to believe that the church is located on the site where the first students of the

Glagolitic alphabet The Glagolitic script ( , , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed that it was created in the 9th century for the purpose of translating liturgical texts into Old Church Slavonic by Saints Cyril and Methodi ...

(used to translate the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

into

Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic languages, South Slavic subgroup of the ...

) were taught in the

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...

History

The original church is believed to have been built when Saint Clement arrived in Ohrid at the request of

Boris I of Bulgaria Boris I (also ''Bogoris''), venerated as Saint Boris I (Mihail) the Baptizer (, ; died 2 May 907), was the ruler (knyaz) of the First Bulgarian Empire from 852 to 889. Despite a number of military setbacks, the reign of Boris I was marked wit ...

and restored an old church. Sources say that Saint Clement was not satisfied with the size of the church and therefore built a new one over it and assigned

Saint Panteleimon Saint Pantaleon (), counted in Western Christianity as among the Fourteen Holy Helpers of the Late Middle Ages, and in Eastern Christianity as one of the Holy Unmercenary Healers, was a martyr of Nicomedia in Bithynia during the Diocletianic ...

as its

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

Saint Clement used his newly created church as a

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

building and a place for teaching his disciples in

and

. Clement was buried inside the church after his death in 916; his

tomb A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called '' immurement'', alth ...

still exists today. In the 15th century,

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

converted the church into a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

but during the beginning of the 16th century allowed ruined monasteries and churches to be restored, therefore, so was Saint Clement's church. The church was again ruined during the end of the 16th century or the beginning of the 17th century and another mosque, called Imaret Mosque (), was erected by the Ottomans. The Imaret Mosque was torn down in 2000 with the reason given that it was constructed over the remains of a church in the Plaošnik area and the former mosque was added to the damaged religious buildings list compiled by the Islamic Religious Community of Macedonia.

Architecture

Many archaeologists believe that Clement himself designed and constructed the church. Clement, along with Naum of Preslav would use the church as a basis for teaching the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets to Christianised Bulgarian Slavs, thus making it a university. The church stands on a

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

which is now known as Plaošnik overlooking

Lake Ohrid Lake Ohrid is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes, with a unique aquatic ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more th ...

. Clement built his church on a restored church and a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

of five parts (the remains of the basilicas can still be seen outside the church). Judging by the architectural style and design of the church, researchers say that Saint Clement intended for his building to be a

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, ...

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

for disciples, thus it is believed to be the first and oldest discontinued university in Europe. The exterior of the church contains a large number of finely detailed mosaics not far from a stone

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

used to baptise his disciples.

Reconstruction and excavation

Apart from the church's many reconstructions during the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, it has recently undergone extensive reconstruction and excavation. Reconstruction started on December 8, 2000 and the physical church was fully reconstructed by August 10, 2002. Most of Saint Clement's

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

s were returned to the church. A partially ruined bell tower was restored on the right side of the church and the floors of the interior of the church have been reconstructed with

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

. Reconstruction was carried out by hand using materials used to build the original church. Machines were only used to polish the interior during the reconstruction of the church. The first excavations of the church were carried out in 1943 by Prof. Dimche Koco. Excavations inside the church have revealed tunnels and crypts. Further excavations have been planned to uncover more remains under the church, including more ruins of the Roman basilicas that stood there (the pillars outside the church support the idea of more remains). On October 10, 2007, a collection of approximately 2,383 Venetian coins was discovered by archaeologists while excavating the church. A prominent archaeologist of North Macedonia, Pasko Kuzman, stated that the coins are of special significance because they indicate that Ohrid and Venice were commercially linked.

Tradition

As the church is one of the most sacred in North Macedonia, thousands of Macedonian Orthodox

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

gather at Plaošnik during large religious holidays such as

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

and

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

to celebrate and take part in the liturgies.

Gallery

Image:Sv pentelejmon side.jpg, The bell tower on the side of the church. An icon above the entrance depicts Saint Clement and Saint Panteleimon Image:Plaoshnik-Ohrid.jpg, Archeological excavations at Plaošnik File:Iglesia de San Pantaleón, Ohrid, Macedonia, 2014-04-17, DD 32.JPG, View of the rear side File:Sv. Kliment i Pantelejmon Plaošnik 015.JPG, View of the front side File:Iglesia de San Pantaleón, Ohrid, Macedonia, 2014-04-17, DD 31.JPG, Entry Image:Pantelejmon style.jpg, The detailed architectural style of the church Image:Sitio arqueológico de Plaosnik, Ohrid, Macedonia, 2014-04-17, DD 36.JPG, Baptistry and surrounding mosaic floor of an early Christian basilica

References

{{Coord, 41.1125, 20.7909, region:MK_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Archaeological sites in North Macedonia Eastern Orthodox church buildings in North Macedonia Medieval churches of Ohrid Medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church buildings Byzantine church buildings in North Macedonia Mosques converted from churches in the Ottoman Empire Macedonian Orthodox churches Golden Age of Bulgaria 9th-century churches