Monday, January 19, 2009

Architecture of Saint Panteleimon, Ohrid







Many archaeologists believe that Clement himself designed and constructed the monastery. Clement, along with Naum of Preslav would use the monastery as a basis for teaching the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets to Christianised Slavs thus making it a university.
The monastery stands on a hill which is now known as Plaošnik overlooking Lake Ohrid. Clement built his monastery on a restored church and a Roman basilica of five parts (the remains of the basilicas can still be seen outside the monastery). Judging by the architectural style and design of the monastery, researchers say that Saint Clement intended for his building to be a literary school for disciples, thus it is believed to be the first and oldest discontinued university in Europe.

Mosaic floor of the early Christian basilica
The exterior of the monastery contains a large number of finely detailed mosaics not far from a stone Baptismal font used to baptise his disciples.

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