Driving to Byzantium*

I've described this blog as about visits to Roman and Byzantine imperial sites in Serbia and some of the former Yugoslavia. In reviewing the posts I think that it may seem that I've been short on the Byzantine content. This actually reflects the reality of how Byzantine control ebbed and flowed over the Balkans.

But, as we visited monasteries (Manasija, Ravanica, Lubostinja, Zica, and Studenica) it wasn't hard to quickly notice the soft power of the Byzantine state. In every monastery were frescoes that demonstrated the cultural power that Byzantium exerted over the Balkans and beyond.

The frescos of Serbian Emperors, Despots, Princes, and their Queens for example, show them garbed in Byzantine imperial regalia. Similarly the images of Christ, Mary, and the multitude of saints clearly show their Byzantine (and classical) inspiration. This is not to say that these frescos are second rate copies, they are beautiful and wonderous in their own right. Their roots, however, are Byzantine.

Unfortunately, though, we never did see a monastery that wasn't desecrated in some way. Not one, not even the most remote, has made it to the present intact. The culprit in most cases was the Ottoman Turks who were unfamiliar with the Koranic injunction against using force in religion. The next worst culprit was inept restorers. Studencia monastery is a prime example of both. The Turks burnt the monastery and restorers thought the burnt frescoes too damaged to restore so they chipped at them and plastered them over for new frescoes. The "new" frescoes have been removed and work is slowly proceeding on restoring the original, now chipped frescoes. It's a painful experience to look at the gouged masterpieces.

* Apologies to WBY.