ST. CLEMENT'S CHURCH AT PLAOŠNIK (ST. PANTELJEMON)
The restored St. Clement's church at Plaošnik (archeological site), in Ohrid represents one of the most important monuments in Macedonia. St. Clement built his temple in the 9th century, in 863 AD, on the bases of an early Christian church one the most important in the Balkans, from the 5th or 6th century AD. It was here that the Ohrid Literary School, the spring of the Slavic literary and cultural activity, was situated.
St. Clement established a university, also known as the Ohrid Literary School and educated more than 3,500 disciples who spread throughout the Slavic world and continued his work. But as the Ottoman Turks penetrated in the Balkans, they turned many churches into a mosques. St. Clement's church was demolished, and w as converted into a mosque called Imaret. The same mosque existed until the summer 2000, but without an minaret when it was legally ruined, in order to the restoration of the St. Clement's church, St. Pantelejmon. Archaeological finds in this church include St. Clement's tomb. He is the patron of the city of Ohrid and all of Macedonia.
The entire location on this historical hill in Ohrid is called Plaošnik, which represented an episcopic center even in the 4th century AD and on this place the archeologists have discovered many mosaics, basilicas with great historical value, more beautiful than those in Stobi and Heraklea Lynkestis. That's why St. Clement, built his church on this place and he dedicated to the protector of the health, St. Pantelejmon. Only a fragments of the frescoes of this church are recovered.
Among them is the wonderful mosaic, by which discovery the archeological team went crazy, of it's size and beauty. Macedonia is rich with ancient mosaics, that is a fact, and all of them make part of all anthologies, especially the mosaics in Stobi and Heraklea Lynkestis. But great mosaic is original by a couple of fragments, that cannot be seen at the other mosaics. First thing is that in the middle of it, there are Lions, which is for the first time seen in a mosaic in Macedonia. Then, the second thing is that, this mosaic is in the parts of an spiritual object there are crosses in it. Beside the well known Christian cross, here was discovered the cross that Adolph Hitler used to have on it's flags. But that doesn't mean that he invented it. That cross represented a symbol even from the period of the Egyptian civilization and existed as a symbol in the early Christian period. That is a solar symbol that marks the power of the world. In spiritual sense it means that God is one and the most important and the entire world turns around him. The third symbol is the Eel which means that the mosaic tells the story of the Lake of Ohrid.
This mosaic is discovered as a part of one great discovery in the yard of the now, restored St. Clement's church. Also a baptisteruim was discovered and this entire mosaics are settled around it.
