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The Church of the Holy Mother of God ((セルビア語:Црква свeте Богородице), ''Crkva svete Bogorodice''; (ブルガリア語:Църква „Света Богородица“), ''Tsarkva „Sveta Bogoroditsa“'') is a medieval Eastern Orthodox church in the village of Donja Kamenica in Knjaževac municipality, Zaječar District, eastern Serbia. The church is generally considered to have been built in the 14th century, when this area was part of the Second Bulgarian Empire's Vidin appanage, though alternative datings have been proposed. While small, the Church of the Holy Mother of God is notable for its unusual architectural style, in particular for its high narthex flanked by two sharp-pointed towers. These features, which hint at Hungarian or Transylvanian influences, are highly atypical for medieval Bulgarian church architecture. The church is richly decorated on the inside, with as many as eleven frescoes of historical figures. One of these portraits, captioned as a despot, is variously identified as an eponymous son of Bulgarian tsar Michael Shishman or as an undocumented son of co-tsar Michael Asen IV; earlier speculation that the image depicted Serbian noble Mihailo Anđelović or Michael Shishman himself have since fallen out of favor with art historians. In addition to these early portraits, the interior walls of the church were painted with canonical murals, which can stylistically be assigned to the 14th–15th century. The church was reconstructed in 1958 and has been under Serbian state protection since 1982. ==History and architecture== The Church of the Holy Mother of God lies in the eastern Serbian village of Donja Kamenica, some southeast of Knjaževac, northeast of Niš and not far from the Bulgarian border.〔Николова, p. 116〕〔Vasileva, p. 1〕 The church is located at the square in the centre of the village, by the left bank of the Trgoviški Timok river〔Божилов, p. 146〕 and along an old military road from Pirot to Vidin.〔Frfulanović〕 The church acquired its name due to its abundance of frescoes featuring Mary, the mother of Jesus.〔Поповић, p. 54〕 The prevalent opinion is that the church was constructed and painted in the early 14th century, which coincides with the lifetimes of the individuals most widely accepted as represented by the figures depicted in the church's frescoes.〔〔Споменици културе у Србији〕 At the time, the village of Donja Kamenica, along with much of the Timočka Krajina region, belonged to the Vidin appanage of the Second Bulgarian Empire.〔 However, alternative theories place the construction of the church in the mid-14th century, the mid-15th century or even the 16th century.〔 The church and its frescoes were restored in 1958. The church was declared a Monument of Culture of Great Importance in 1982, and it is protected by the Republic of Serbia.〔 In terms of architecture, the church features a round dome and a single apse. The naos or cella has the shape of a cross, in line with the popular Byzantine cross-in-square design.〔〔Божилов, p. 144〕〔Vasileva, p. 2〕 Of particular interest is the formerly two-storey narthex, which is notable for its unusual verticality and the towers on either side of the entrance. Judging by the models depicted in the donor's portraits inside the church, it is clear that the towers were originally further apart and the west facade with the narthex included much woodwork.〔〔Поповић, p. 55〕 The towers are topped off by sharp-pointed pyramidal elements, with additional sharp-pointed details in each of the pyramids' four corners. The towers and their design are entirely unusual and unprecedented in medieval Bulgarian church architecture.〔 Art historian Nikola Mavrodinov believes these resemble Gothic architecture, though a more modern researcher, Bistra Nikolova, dismisses his assessment and considers these an influence from Hungary or Transylvania.〔 Despite its monumental appearance, the church is rather small in size.〔〔 It measures (according to Nikolova)〔 or (per Mavrodinova).〔Мавродинова, p. 6〕 The materials employed in the church's construction were chiefly chiseled stones welded together using mortar masonry. Several rows of bricks were added in order to even out the structure and to serve as decoration, particularly in the dome, which features more elaborate brickwork.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Church of the Holy Mother of God, Donja Kamenica」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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