Cultural circumstances between the 15th - 18th century

The natural flow of the cultural evolution (literature, enlightenment and artistic creativity) of the Macedonian people stagnated under Turkish rule.

A. Literature

The only culture centers that remained were the monasteries, which were financially independent, and far away from the city population and the army's way. The tradition of transcribing, the reproduction of church services, erudite philosophic and church scripts continued. The most renown churches where this tradition continued were the Monastery of Lesnovo near Kratovo, Matejche and St. Prohor of Pchinya near Kumanovo, Slepche near Demir Hisar, Treskavets near Prilep, The Immaculate Mother of God near Kichevo, Jovan Bigorski near Debar, the Monastery of Polosh in the Tikvesh region, the church St. Archangel Michael and others. Towards the end of the 16th century the translation of collections of works began in Macedonia. They were comprised of varied content damascinos according to the Greek author Damascinos of Studios who prepared a Thesaurus of moral instructions Sokrovishte with fictional elements in Greek). The following works also appeared in this period Clement's gramota, the Slepche pismovnik, 16th Century Macedonian Damascinos, Tikvesh Collections between the 16th and 18th Century, the Treskavets Codex between the 17th and 18th century. All the works were hand written, as there were only two printing houses in Macedonia at this time: one in the monastery St.Nahum in 1710 and the other in Mt. Athos.

B. Enlightenment

The monasteries served as sanctuaries for the first Macedonian schools where priests received their education. Subsequently, the monks of these monasteries began to form public schools in the vicinity of the churches, so-called keliyni schools, teaching a smaller number of town children to become literate. In 1740 Veles, Skopje and Prilep began to support these schools.

C. Art

1. Construction The church construction of the Turkish period is significantly more modest. They were single-aisled, with half circled arches, small windows in the form of a narrow cross with pilastri which rarely had cupolas above them. The Turkish legislative body allowed churches to be built only in villages, while there is no evidence of constructed new churches in towns. the following churches were built in this period: Church of the Ascension, Leskoets, near Ohrid (1426) with the aid of the donors Tode and Vulka. The churches in the villages of Leshani (1452), Godivye, Elshani, Upper Kosel and Velestovo. Above the village of Slimnitsa (Prespa) the benefactor of Bitola Micheal Petkov builds a church in memory of his son Kupen who died in 1599. In 1537 the churches St. Nicholas of the village of Zhvan and St. John the Forerunner were restored. Kyr Demetrius Pepik donated for this restoration and later built the small church St. John the Divine. The church St. Athanasius of Alexandria in the village of Zhurche is the most renown of the several churches that were built near Demir Hisar. The Karpino Monastery is built near Kumanovo; the church St. George in the village of Banyani (1549) and Divle (1604); the church of the Monastery Holy Archangels above the village of Kuchevishta; the church the Holy Saviour in Skopje; the Monastery St. Andrew built in 1389 and restored in 1497 with the donation of the noble woman Militsa. The following churches were built or restored in this period as well: The Dormition of the Holy Mother of God, near Zletovo; a smaller church of the Monastery Joachim of Osogovo dedicated to The Holy Mother of God; the church St. Nicholas in the village of Krupishte (1625); the church St. George in Zletovo; the church St. George and St. Petka in Mlado Nagorchani; the church St. Nicholas in the village of Trnovo (Kriva Palanaka); St. Andrew, St. Nicholas, St. George (1547) and St. John the Theologist (1552) near Kostur.

D. Fresco painting

There were several such centers in Macedonia: Ohrid, the Monasteries Treskavets and Zrze (near Prilep), Slepche, Lesnovo, St. Gabriel of Lesnovo, the monasteries near Shtip, Kratovo and Skopska Crna Gora. A visual correlative was made of the church The Ascension of Christ and another was made of the church of the village of Leshani. In 1477 one of the most famous medieval painter Michael made a visual correlation of the church St. Constantine and Helena in Ohrid. Visual correlation has been made by unknown authors of the cave churches St. Athanasius (the village of Kalishte) and the church above the village of Radozhda, as well as the church of The Holy Mother of God at the monastery of Kalishte. In the 16th century an unkonwn painter at the church St. John the Divine at Kaneo, made an icon of Christ the Saviour and Giver of Life. The same unkown author painted the icons in Struga, the village of Vranishte of the Archangel Michael. In 1565 the name of the donator George was placed on the two icons (Christ the Saviour and Giver of Life and the Holy Mother of God) in the small church The Ascension of Christ in Leskoets. There is an icon of Deissis dated 1674 at the church St. John the Divine at Kaneo. In 1625 the priest Dimitar of the village of Varvara, the priest's wife Kalina and his son George and the heretic Vasil paid the hieromonk Makarios to paint the monastery Zrze (near Prilep). The metropolitan John of Zrze was a renowned painter who participated in the adornment of the church St. Andrew by the river Treskavets in 1389. The hieromonk John and his son deacon John made the grand Act of the church Ss. Peter and Paul of Zrze in 1535. The grand snake cross of the church St. George of the Polog Monastery near the river Tsrna resembles the crosses of the Monastery Slepche. The painter Dimitar of the village of Leunovo near Mavrovo is renowned in this period. Together with the painter John they made the frescoes and icons of the church St. Nicholas, the Topolichki Monastery. Dimitar had had a modest working group made up of 3 painters and apprentices. They made the frescoes and icons on the west portal of St. John the Divine and the ceremonial icons of the iconostasis of the church St. John the Forerunner in the village of Slepche. An unknown author at the monastery of Lesnovo in Kratovo, a famous mining center, created two big icons. The Acathistus of the Immaculate Mother of God with several vivid depictions (Avram's Sacrifice, Miracle of Kona, the story of the young men in the furnace) and Christ the Saviour and Giver of Life. Its benefactor was Dimitrius Pepik. Several churches and monasteries of the center Skopska Crna Gora were adorned with frescoes and icons. The churches The Holy Mother of God and St. Archangel in and above the village of Kuchevishte are among the very first to be painted in 1501. In 1604 the church The Dormition of the Mother of God in the village of Divle was built and adorned with frescoes and icons, in 1610 the church St. Andrew and in 1630 the church St. Nicholas Shishevski with the funds of the benefactor Kologin Kozhuhin.

The Islamic culture in Macedonia

a. Architecture

Many Islamic edifices were erected in Macedonia for various religious, educational, economic, curative and other purposes such as: mosques and tekinya (prayer and sojourn edifices), masjids, the turbe (tomb), medresi (religious high schools), dervish lodges, caravanserais, covered market places, baths, water supply systems, fountains, etc.

Mosques

The oldest and most exquisite mosques in Macedonia are Isaac Bey (Alaja - Mottled) embellished in numerous varicolored tiles on the exterior walls built in 1438 (today this can only be seen on the turbe (tomb) in the yard and Isa Bey distinctive with two iron cupolas. Other mosques were erected in Skopje. According to Evliya Chelebi out of 120 temples 45 were mosques. The most renowned are the Hunkar Mosque (erected by Sultan Murat II in 1436), the Mustafa Pasha Mosque (1492), the Burmali Mosque (1495), Yahya Pasha Mosque (1504). In 1561 the Haydar Kadi Mosque is built in Bitola on the grounds of Sinan's project, an eminent Turkish constructor of that time, as well as the Yeni Mosque (1558) and the Isa Mosque (1508). The peak of the picturesque is the Painted Mosuque in Tetovo, restored in 1785.

The turbe (tombs)

They were the constructions where men of importance were buried. The most significant of these is the Isaac Bey Mosque in Skopje, as well as the Mustafa Pashsa Turbe (tomb), the open tomb of King K'zi, the Alti Ashak Turbe (tomb) and Ashik Chelebi's Gazi-Baba Turbe (tomb).

Tekinya (prayer and sojourn edifices)

The dervish orders built these. In 1660 there were 20 tekinya in Skopje. The Emir Sultan's prayer and sojourn edifice was the most famous one. Even today in Tetovo the prayer and sojourn edifice of the dervishes of the Bektashi order Arabati Baba is one of the most powerful dervish sects. Rejep Pasha, who endowed the prayer and sojourn edifice with land, villages, houses and shops, built it. Medresi These were among the more marked edifices of the towns. The most important medresa in Macedonia is the Isaac Bey Medres built in 1445. There were also many imarets (open public kitchens) where the homeless and travelers received food. These edifices were located besides bigger mosques. The open market places and caravanserais were built by the most important traffic ways. They were built in the shape of a square with a yard in the center and had a storage place for the stock as well as rooms for resting. The grandest of them is the Kurshumli An in Skopje with numerous small iron cupolas built by Musledin Hoja in 1550. Another remarkable an is The Suleyman An built by Isaac Bey in the 16th century. The bezinstens were very solid square structures used for merchant and craftsmen shops. The most renowned ones are the Mustafa Pasha bezisten in Skopje and the Bezisten in Bitola with 86 shops. The baths were constructions used for hygienic purposes known as public baths. Most famous were the Daut Pasha Amam, built by the eminent constructor Sinan, and Chifte (Double) Amam where men and women could bathe separately built in the 15th century. The Medresi were the more significant structures in Macedonia. In the 15th century there were two medresi in Skopje. The Isaac Bey Medres was the most prestigious one on the Balkan. They had one classroom and several other facilities for accommodating the students. Religious courses were taught here as well as oriental languages, Islamic law, philosophy, maths, etc. The Mektebi were elementary schools built as part of the larger mosques. They were also present in the villages. The Kyutubhane (libraries) could be found in the mosques, the elementary schools (medresa) and the prayer and sojourn edifices (tekinya). Isaac Bey had the oldest library in 1445. The Isaac Bey Medresa in Skopje had a library full of books (over 320 books in 32 volumes).

B. Literature

The first renowned poets in Macedonia are Athai Uskubi, Zari (Karaja Hasan Oglu), Feridi (Haraja Husam) and Haki, all from Skopje. Isaac Chelebi was the most famous medieval Turkish poet in Skopje. He was a teacher at the Sahn Medresa in Constantinople and a kadia in Damask. His literary opus consists of a collection of poems Divan, Chronicles of Selim - Selimname, two shehrengii (poems of towns) and a Munshaet (letters). The poets of Bitola were Haveri, Jelapi Chelebi, Zuhuri Chelebi, Vahya, Kathib Hasan, Ayani, etc. There were also famous teachers of elementary schools or kadii who were like encyclopedias: Taskyoprulu - zade (1495 - 1554) An exceptional Islamic encyclopedian who was appointed a teaching position at the Isaac Bey elementary school in Skopje; Ashik Chelebi ,a kadia from Skopje, medieval Turkish literature; Veysi Efendi (1561 1628) was a kadia in Skopje seven times, he is one of the greatest Turkish medieval prose writers.

Cultural Concept of the Albanian Entity of Macedonia

The culture of the Albanian narodnost in Macedonia carries traces of life in unison with the other Balkan people under the Byzantine and the Osmanli Empire.

a. Architecture

The Albanian house ground, one-story (rarely two-story) with no floor or ceiling and a fireplace in the middle. A mat is placed over the earth floor. The bottom end of the house has a hall, an outbuilding for the stock, facilities for milk and milk products, a kitchen (facilities for the women). The upper story has a bedroom, guestroom, an abdesa (where water is kept - stomnaluk), a bathroom and a balcony - chardak. The houses in Debar and Kichevo represent typical Albanian houses. The constructors of these houses were Macedonians from Dolna Reka. There was a strong Islamic wave over the Albanian religious objects in the 12th century. Today, there is evidence of their existence is the toponims (Ke kisha - by the church, Ke voret kristiane - by the Christian graves). The frescoes of these destroyed churches were in the Byzantine style with a Roman Catholic essence.

b. The costume

Varies from village to village. The original one is in the mountain villages. The Oriental influence of is felt in the plain villages. The male costume is uniform for all the Albanians in Macedonia except for the Prespa region. It consists of white bechvi, an ornamented black braid, a shirt, jamadan, another shirt with ruffles, a long wide belt 5-6 metres, patterned socks and a white hat made of wool.

C. Literature

The wedding and love lyrics play a significant role in the Albanian national literature. The narrative poem (epic) is primarily present near Debar and Kichevo. The major works are The Legends of Edifices where the main theme is focused on the sacrifice of man at the foundation of an object as a religious superstitious ritual. Renowned legends are Debar Bridge in Debar, Building Bridges in Kichevo. Variations of these legends are Halil Garia, Umer Aga, Lyuta Fukaria, Ali Birjalia, etc. Historical national songs are sung at wedding ceremonies in the Debar and Kichevo. They glorify heroes and liberation soldiers who fought to free the people from the Osmanli reign. There are also many stories. National songs are performed with a musical instrument gusla.