Church of the Holy Virgin, Musutiste

The church of the Holy Virgin Hodegetria was an 14th century church in Kosovo that was destroyed by Kosovar Albanian paramilitary forces during the destruction of the Serbian part of Musutiste, after the end of the Kosovo war in 1999. [ [http://www.serbianorthodoxchurch.net/historyofchurch/destruction1999/index.html Serbian Orthodox Church - History ] ]

The church was built as a foundation by the court governor Dragoslav, in 1315, in Musutiste, near Suva Reka. The inscription at the entrance of the church was considered one of the oldest and most accomplished Serbian epigraphic texts of its kind. It was an inscribed-cross church with a semi-dome and a semi-round apse. The wall was built of alternating rows of bricks and stone cubes. The frescoes of the Musutiste School, related to the style of the Palaeologus era, were painted between 1316 and 1320 and were famed for their plasticity and the saints' typology were known as the best examples of Serbian art [ [http://www.interfax-religion.com/kosovo/?id=2 Interfax-Religion ] ] . In the altar area there was a unique portrait of the South-Slav educator, St Clement of Ohrid. In the north-western corner of the naos there were figures of holy women, the warriors SS Theodore Tyro and Theodore Stratilates, angels, and St Panteleimon. Two throne icons of Christ and The Holy Virgin dated back to the year 1603.

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