2022/2023 Lecture Series Event: Sacral topography of the Archbishopric of Ohrid from its founding in the beginning of the 11th to the mid-13th century
The Department of Classical and Mediterranean Studies Lecture Series presents Sacral topography of the Archbishopric of Ohrid from its founding in the beginning of the 11th to the mid-13th century, a lecture by Dr. Ljubomir Milanović of The Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. This event will be held in Divinity 124 (Reading Room) on Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 4:10pm with reception to follow the presentation.
The topic of this lecture is the sacral topography of the Archbishopric of Ohrid. It is part of a larger project entitled From Barbarians to Christians and Rhomaioi. The Process of Byzantinization in the Central Balkans (late 10th – mid-13th century). This project deals with political, military, ideological, cultural, and ecclesiastical/religious influence exerted by the Byzantine Empire on the central areas of the Balkans – a process known in modern scholarship as Byzantinization.
In the lecture, Dr. Milanović will analyze the significance of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, which was by far the most important Byzantine institution in the Balkans. The Archbishopric’s historical evolution and its political, ideological and artistic role as expressed through places of worship, will be discussed. The key focus of this particular investigation, is the definition of the structure of sacral topography, along with detailed information on the ktetors of churches and monasteries and the degree of the acceptance of Byzantine artistic models. Consequently, the intensity of Byzantinization and its bearers will be identified.
This lecture is sponsored by the Departments of Classical and Mediterranean Studies, History, Jewish Studies, Religious Studies, History of Art and Architecture and the Program of Religion in the Arts and Contemporary Culture at the Divinity School. It is free and open to the public.
