St. Michael's Church, Moscopole

St. Michael's Church
Native names Albanian: Kisha e Shën Mëhillit Greek: Ιερός Ναός Ταξιαρχών
Location	Moscopole
Coordinates	40°37′45″N 20°35′14″E / 40.62904°N 20.58724°ECoordinates: 40°37′45″N 20°35′14″E / 40.62904°N 20.58724°E
Cultural Monument of Albania

St. Michael's Church (Albanian: Kisha e Shën Mëhillit or Kisha Kryeengjëjt Mihail dhe Gavriil,^[1] Greek: Ιερός Ναός Αρχαγγέλων Μιχαήλ και Γαβριήλ or Ιερός Ναός Ταξιαρχών),^[2] also known as Church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel^[3] is an Orthodox church in Moscopole, modern southeastern Albania. The church was built in 1722 and is one out of five remaining churches standing in the once prosperous Aromanian metropolis of Moscopole.^[4]

During the prohibition of religion in Albania, in 1948, it was declared a Cultural Monument of Albania.^[5] In 1996 the church became a target of vandalism with 23 paintings of Saints being heavily damaged.^[6]

References

1. Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania (Albanian)
2. Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania (Greek)
3. Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania (English)
4. Mikropoulos, Tassos A. (2008). Elevating and Safeguarding Culture Using Tools of the Information Society: Dusty traces of the Muslim culture. Earthlab. p. 316. ISBN 978-960-233-187-3.
5. "Religious buildings with the "Culture Monument" status". Republic of Albania National Committee for Cult. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
6. Robert Elsie. Peyfuß, Max Demeter: Die Druckerei von Moschopolis, 1731-1769. Buchdruck, p. 1