1744 - Data Points by Date/Period

The Monastery of Ardenica is located at the highest point of a range of hills stretching across the great plain of Myzeqea (Myzeqe). Over the centuries this monastery has been an important historical, cultural, and spiritual center of the Orthodox Church. The monastery was situated close to the important road, Via Egnatia, which joined Western and Eastern Europe and continued all the way to Constantinople. In the monastery itself, several mile-marker stones from the Via Egnatia can be found. Because it was located on this major artery, the monastery drew many people to its gates. The monastery is dedicated to the Nativity of the All-Holy Theotokos and celebrates its feast-day on September 8th, when a great number of the faithful gather from all over Albania. Some scholars say that the initial core of the monastery, The Church of the Holy Trinity, has its beginnings in the 10th century. According to tradition, the monastery itself was founded in the 13th or 14th century during the time of the Epirius Despotism. The central Church of the Nativity of Theotokos was built in 1743, with funds from merchants of Voskopoja, who were scattered across Europe. It is said that this church replaced an older church, which was destroyed together with the entire monastery at the end of the 17th century, perhaps from a fire or earthquake. Its restoration was due in large part to the abbot of the monastery Nektar Terpo from Voskopoja, a renowned personality and preacher of the Church at that time. Two years after the building of the church, Abbot Andoni wrote a letter to the donors requesting their continued economic help in order to rebuild the monastery. The funds gathered from these efforts made possible the gradual completion of the monastery's buildings. Now, though they have been repaired several times, most of the buildings at the monastery - the cellars, kitchen, bakery, cells, welcoming rooms, and especially the oil mill - are in their original form and rank among the best preserved buildings for monasteries of the 18th century. The inside walls of the monastery church are completely covered with frescoes. The murals are the work of Konstandin and Athanas Zografi, who were brothers from Korca; they date back to the year 1744. All of the words, including those on the frescoes, are written in old Greek. Some of the more notable frescoes can be found on the northern part of the western-facing wall, where visitors will find icons of the seven saints who evangelized the Slavs as well as St. John Kukuzeli of Durres, a notable Byzantine musician of the 12th century. It is also worth noticing the group of frescoes devoted to the sufferings of Christ on the fourth level of the murals. A majority of the icons on the iconostasis were made in 1744 by another famous iconographer of the 18th century, Konstandin Shpataraku (from the regions of Shpati near Elbasan). He signed his name Hierodeacon Konstandin. Among the icons on the iconostasis was also an icon of St. John Vladimir; the Albanian Prince, Karl Topia, is also pictured there in miniature. This icon is now housed in the Medieval Art Museum in Korca. The iconostasis structure itself was also carved around the year 1744 and repaired in 1804. The Episcopal throne, the amvon, and the icon stand were also carved during the same period. All the wood carvings are painted with gold. Flora and fauna are a significant element found carved in these pieces and each has symbolic meaning. They rank among the most beautiful carved pieces of these regions. Inside the church are also a number of silver adornments with floral motifs, such as the lampadas of the iconostasis which date back to the years 1725 and 1745. Many of the liturgical and historical artistic objects of the Monastery - icons, silver pieces, the holy stole, and various documents - are preserved in archival and private museum collections, both local and foreign, in at least five other European countries: Greece, Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Poland.

Benedictine nuns have been praying and working in this monastery for almost a thousand years. They are an integral part of this complex cultural property and a true living heritage. The monastery was founded in the second half of the 11th century by abbess Čika, a member of the Zadar noble family Madil. It was bestowed upon her by the Croatian King Petar Krešimir IV. The Church of St Mary, which is the main building of the monastery complex, was built in the Early Romanesque style and consecrated in 1091. Despite numerous reconstructions, a large portion of its original structure has been preserved until the present. In the initial decades of the 16th century the church was extended and the southern and front facade were constructed in the forms of the Venetian Renaissance. The interior was redecorated in the Late Baroque style between 1742 and 1744. The first Croatian-Hungarian king Coloman bestowed the bell tower and the capitulary hall upon the new abbess Vekenega, Čika's daughter. According to the engraved inscription on the cornice of the first floor of the bell tower and others in the capitulary hall, they were built between 1105 and 1111 after the victory and peace treaty. These two buildings were the earliest monuments of the mature Romanesque style in Dalmatia. The tomb of abbess Vekenega is situated in the capitulary hall. In the 19th century the church and the capitulary hall were extensively redecorated, and in the Second World War they were partially destroyed. They were restored after extensive conservation and restoration works in the 1970s. The nuns reside in the eastern wing of the monastery, whereas the western and northern wings house the Permanent Exhibition of Sacred Art (also known as the Gold and Silver of Zadar) with a comprehensive collection of all kinds of religious artworks from the Early Middle Ages to the 19th century. This collection is one of the main cultural properties of the Republic of Croatia. The Archaeological Museum is situated in a modern building directly alongside the western wing of the monastery, it holds prehistoric, ancient and medieval collections of impressive artefacts, which are precious interpreters of the historical development of Zadar and North Dalmatia.

It is the most distinguished building in Uus Street. Though the frame of the ornate portal displays the date '1751', the house is considerably loder, Uus Street was the first street built behind the defence wall. According to the original design of the building, it is likely that the basement and the ground floor of the present building date back to the Swedish rule in Estonia during the second half of the 17th century. In the very heart of the house there is a chimney, which occupies a large part of the internal space and which looks like a huge stone bottle. It has an ashlar with the date '1744', probably marking the reconstruction after the Great Northern War when the house was transformed into a one family dwelling house. Three escutcheons situated above the portal bearing coats of arms with initials in the middle attract one's attention. They belonged to big merchants and noble townspeople who used the building for sorting of the flax and hemp. The anchor is the emblem of the Gernet merchant family. Wilhelm Hinrich Gernet led the business, his partner was the trading company 'Adolph Oom & Söhne'. The emblem of the Oom family bears curious symbols: a heart with horns. The lion shaped coat of arms with initials 'HE' on the right side of the door belonged to Hans Jacob Eggers, the elder of the Great Guild. He was also the first tenant of this flax and hemp sorting building after the business had come into the possession of the town. He lived here and also used the building as his office. In 1876, a school was founded in the building. In 1944, the building was significantly damaged by the bombardment of the Soviet Army. After its repairs in 1949, it was re-designed as a school again. Broader restoration works were carried out from 1988 until 1991, they were projected by the Estonian architect I. Kannelmäe. After that, the Estonian Hunters' Society settled here. This baroque house and architectural monument belongs to the building complex, where the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Estonia have been located since 1995.

1744 (3)

Other Dates/Periods

0925

1491

27-05-2018

0167 BC

1655 - 1661

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