Osogovo Monastery is a Macedonian Orthodox monastery located near Kriva Palanka, North Macedonia, 10 kilometres from the Bulgarian border. The monastery consists of two churches including the larger 'Saint Joachim of Osogovo' and the smaller 'Holy Mother of God.' The monastery grounds also consist of a bell tower, dormitories, a guardhouse, and a residency for the Head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
The monastery was founded in the 12th century, though there are no remains of the original monastery. The smaller church in today's monastery complex got its present look in the 14th century, while the larger one was built in the 19th century.
The larger, three-nave church, was built in 1851 by Andrey Damyanov. It has 12 cupolas, which represent the 12 apostles, and porches on its southern and western sides. Most of the church's interior and cupolas were painted by Dimitar Andonov Papradiški. The smaller and older church, founded in the 12th century and rebuilt in the 14th century, is dedicated to the Holy Mother of God.
The monastery was founded by a priest from Ovče Pole in the mid-12th century. In 1585, during Ottoman rule, the church was converted to mosque for a short period of time after the bey of Kriva Palanka renovated it, though it soon became a church again.
During the Austro-Ottoman War of 1690, the monastery was severely damaged and was to be destroyed by the Ottomans as punishment to the locals for siding with the Austrians during the war. Legend claims that the Ottomans spared the church after becoming overpowered by some spiritual force.
In 2020, Serbian medias revealed that frescoes depicting Serbian saints and medieval rulers, such as Stefan Dečanski and Lazar of Serbia, were retouched and new names have been inscribed, which was not done in a artistically skillful way or with a permission of local institutions. According to the Spona organisation, this act damaged the whole artistic value of the monastery.
References:The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.