The Diocese of Morodvis

History The Diocese of Morodvis eing a country of rich history Macedonian Orthodox Church to give its and vast cultural heritage, assistant bishops (vicar bishops, who do Macedonia does not readily not have own diocese) titles of former reveal all of its past and has eparchies. These titles lead us to the a lot of secret stories waiting dioceses of Stobi, Heraclea, Velika and Bto be discovered and told. One part of our Polin. Another former diocese which forgotten past are the now extinct urban at the moment is not associated with communities. Former seats of bishops the title of a vicar bishop is Morodvis, and military commanders, they nurtured which today is just a village in Zrnovci rich religious, cultural and economic life, municipality at the foothills of Plackovica but today they are awaiting their curious a few kilometres south of Kocani. The investigator, a local Indiana Jones, who history of the lost diocese lies in the late will examine the traces of the old dioceses antiquity archaeological site Morobizdon whose bishops were part of the most and the medieval Crkviste. The settlement important Councils that determined the was inhabited between the 5th and the history of the Christian faith. 7th centuries and later abandoned. It The first trace of those communities was a rich Roman town in the fertile can be found in the surviving tradition of lands around the river of Bregalnica, 24 March 2014•www.dmwc.org.mk History andT an important point on the eastern 14th centuries put an end to the life of roads. In the 9th century, the area was the diocese of Morodvis. In different resettled by a Slavic population, and it acts, Serbian kings take lands, pastures, was part of the Bregalnica region to which vineyards and other properties from Christian missionaries attached a great Morodvis and give it to the emerging importance. The hagiography tells us that monastic and church communities in the St. Methodius, one of the creators of the North: in Skopje, Prizren and Lipljan. In Slavic alphabet, was an active missionary 1334 the ruler of the region, Despot Jovan here together with his brother St. Cyril. It is Oliver built the St. Archangel Mikhail believed that the first churches were built Monastery in Lesnovo, which very quickly in the area by the Bulgarian commander became a new religious centre with a Taridan, who received the order from the huge library and scriptorium, where many first baptized Bulgarian King Boris Mikhail books were copied by dozens of monks. to Christianize the region. In one of the With the crowning of the Serbian King churches near Bregalnica, the relics of Dusan, his native Pec Archbishopric was fifteen early Christian martyrs from the promoted to a Patriarchy. This, in turn, neighbouring Tiberiopol (Strumica) were demanded a new reorganization of the buried. church structures. Thus, in 1347, the seat At the time of the Bulgarian rulers Simeon of the bishopric was moved from Morodvis and Peter, Bregalnica Bishop was called to the emerging Zletovo. Later rulers, Morodviski, that is ‘of Morodvis’. During including Konstantin Dragas in 1381, gave the reign of Tsar Samuil, Morobidzon, or the monastery a few properties, but it Morodvis, became a bishopric centre, as never regained its former glory. part of the Samuil Ohrid Archbishopric. The As a result of the area’s religious eparchy possessed vast lands stretching prominence, archaeological excavations across today’s Osogovo and Malesevo reveal multiple remains of churches from mountains. Later, when the Byzantine different periods build almost one on top Tsar Vasili II regained these lands, he of the other. Fragments of at least four kept the Archbishopric and its existing churches have been excavated since structure. The Byzantine historian Jovan the1980s: from the 5th, 11th, 13th and 16th Skilica writes in his Short History that centuries. The first church had marble representatives of Morodvizd gave town opus sectile floors, decorated pillars and keys to the Tsar in the year 1018. This is capitals. The superb church construction the first historical record of the bishopric. and decoration leads to the conclusion One year later, the Emperor issued an act that it had a high profile. A tomb of confirming the existing territory of the an important person was found in its bishopric with its lands, settlements and centre. Other remnants revealed carved clergy. In the beginning of the 12th century stones and frescos. A smaller church was Malesevo became the episcopacy seat of probably erected in the13th century, on the the Bregalnica region. This, however, did foundations of an older one. A graveyard not affect the religious significance of with 350 tombs with artefacts made of Morodvis. In his Theography the 12th- gold, bronze, bone, glass and textile was century Arabic writer Idrizi mentions the also discovered. The municipality has come densely populated town of Furumizdus forward with the initiative to continue the (Morodvis) and its vineyards and fertile excavations and protect the site, so that in lands. In the 1260s the seat was again can become the focus of the development transferred to Morodvis. The spread of of cultural tourism, attract visitors and the Serbian Kingdom in the 13th and create new jobs in the area. www.dmwc.org.mk • March 2014 25.

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