Сведения за манастира, основан от св. Климент Охридски
Pieces of evidence about the monastery founded by St. Kliment of Ohrid

Summary/Abstract: Contemporary knowledge of historical and cultural development of Bulgarian monasteries dated between the ninth century and the eleventh century is limited to a large extent due to the dearth of written sources. There are records about the existence of plentitude of convents which turned into mediaeval Bulgarian cultural centres. Some of them accommodated schools and scriptoria which have produced not only genuine pieces of literature, but also translations from foreign languages were conducted and copied, and miscellanea collections were compiled. These monasteries have formed the backbone of Preslav and Ohrid literary schools. Yet, the issue where these centres were located or what was their historical development over the centuries is still puzzling the academic community. On the one hand, archaeological excavations offer new pieces of evidence about Bulgarian convents, but on the other hand, their publications hold certain inaccuracies and inconclusiveness. The monasteries founded by St Kliment and St Naum of Ohrid – disciples of St Cyril and Methodius – are well outlined in copious pieces of written evidence as to their founding, while fragments of data depict their later development. Unlike the state of knowledge about many other monasteries, their exact locations are known to the modern scholars. A number of bits of data about the monastery founded by St Kliment of Ohrid were inserted in the two Lives of St Kliment – these being his Long Life of Theophylact of Ohrid and his Synoptic Life of Demetrios Chomatenos – and in various scribal notes and epigraphic inscriptions. The archaeological data adds to these written records. The monastery has been excavated in four stages in 1942–1943, 1965, 1999–2002 and 2007–2016. Archaeological findings – albite incompletely – have been presented in academic journals and publications. By comparison and analysis of different source data – and in spite of its fragmentary qualities – one may sketch the general chronological framework of St Pantaleon monastery’s functioning in Ohrid. The St Kliment’s Lives clearly present the story of saint’s founding the monastery in the end of the ninth century and its role until the Ottoman conquest of Ohrid. Most detailed accounts about its history date from the fourteenth century. One may distinguish several renovation stages of monastery’s church. Various marginal notes and epigraphic inscription reveal the names of monastery’s sponsors and some of its hegoumenoi. The issue of when the monastery’s church was converted into a mosque remains to be solved in the future. The available sources allow me to conclude that this transformation should be dated to the end of the sixteenth century – beginning of the seventeenth century. I think that Prohor, Archbishop of Ohrid was the last sponsor who commissioned monastery church renovation as following his death he was placed in St Kliment’s grave. It is noted as the end that the monastery church is rebuilt following the reconstruction of architects Todor Paskali and his daughter Tania Paskali. While the aim of Macedonian scholars and politicians was to revive the monastery of St Kliment, one may ask the question whether the new construction works did not aim to annihilate the few remaining pieces of evidence from the monastery founded by St Kliment of Ohrid.

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