Page 110 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

Ground plan of the Church of Mother of God of Ljeviša, Prizren
Cana, were a part of Christ’s Miracles, painted on the western wall which separated the central nave from the southern aisle. in addition, a rare iconographic image of the Mother of God with Child bearing the epithet of Pro- vider and holding a breadbasket was uncovered behind a pillar.
The representations here are cheerful, of simplified form and painted in light colors, thus demonstrating that they had already moved away from the expressiveness of the late Comnenan period which lasted longer in some of the areas of the Byzantine stylistic circle. Nonetheless, some of the saints’ features and the trembling folds of the draperies indicate that there still prevailed an enduring tradition of the grand, universal style which was gradu- ally transformed in various ways that led to blunting the sharpness of the linear brush strokes and softening the dramatic tensions of the depictions.
The particularities of the older paintwork in Ljeviša were not an isolated phenomenon in Serbia. They were similar to the frescos in the parekklesion of the Church of Saint Nicholas in Studenica, and in the diaconicon of the main church of the Morača Monastery. it may therefore be reasonably asserted that they were the work of master- builders belonging to the same workshop that was active in the second quarter of the 13th century.
The Prizren bishop Sava—subsequent archbishop Sava iii—endeavored to restore his cathedral church in the 14th century. The old basilica was no longer used signifi- cantly, in the physical sense, except for the lower parts of the walls and the interior piers; its spatial plan and exte- rior therefore acquired a totally different appearance. This time, the Raška tradition was abandoned with its domed
Longitudinal section through the Church of the Mother of God of Ljeviša, Prizren
single-nave church, the choir transept and the parekkle- sia. The broad central nave of the former cathedral was divided by a double row of piers forming a cross-in-square in the style of Byzantine architecture. This notion suggest- ed a more complex interior easily perceived from the out- side: the branches of the central and transversal nave were taller than the other parts of the edifice, while a cupola was built at their intersection on a square base. Counter- balance to the dome was achieved by four much smaller cupolas placed toward the ends.
Deftly adapting the lower parts of the cathedral, the experienced builder formed a kind of de-ambulatorium from the lateral aisles and narthex such as were also known to urban and monasterial Byzantine builders in various forms. The new entity, therefore, represented a specific, essentially five-aisled edifice with a cross and five cupo- las in its central area. This structure, retaining the dimen- sions of the old basilica, resulted in its elongation, unusual for architecture of this type with added cupolas at a dis- tance from the central one. its interior divided by piers into a number of segments acquired an exciting rhythm, in- creased by the mysterious play of shadows and depths resulting from scant sources of light. Of exceptional in- terest is the exonarthex with its open ground-floor, also lying on the foundations of the old portico, while on the upper floor are two closed areas of the parekklesion with a raised bell tower. There are numerous instances in the cathedrals of the Raška school of exonarthexes added on with one or two lateral or frontal towers, but in Prizren these parts were built at the same time and comprised an integral structure. The bell-tower itself with a wide arched passage on the ground floor and a large two-light mul-
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