Un grand chantier communautaire en Macédoine : l’église Saint-Démètre de Bitola / Manastır (1830)

Abstract

The Christian population of Manastır (nowadays Bitola, Republic of Macedonia) rose sharply at the turn of the 19th century. Yet it had only one church, of small dimensions. In 1825, a dynamic bishop was appointed and the building began in 1830. The analysis of the accounts shows that the contributions of the guilds did not, by far, cover the expenses. So beside a large contribution from the bishop, we have to admit that the ottoman authorities contributed significantly to the building. This sounds paradoxical, but can be explained by the historical context. The great vizir was staying in Manastır at that time, while actively fighting centrifugal movements amongst Muslim Albanians and Bosniacs. It seems that he needed the financial support of the Christians in counterpart of which he allowed and financed the building of a very big church in the center of the town. The work proceeded very quickly, in only four months, as the church adopted the old Byzantine basilical plan, which regained favour about this time. The identity of the architect remains dubious, yet it is probable it was the same man who built the church of the Rila monastery in Bulgaria and the first barracks of Manastır.