Staro Nagorichane · MK

Orthodox church „Saint George”

On a quiet rise in the village of Staro Nagoričane, about ten kilometres east of Kumanovo, stands one of North Macedonia's finest medieval monuments: the Church of St George (Храм Св. Ѓорѓи). Built in its present form in 1312–13 and painted a few years later, it is celebrated as a masterpiece of 14th-century Byzantine classicism and one of the most important ensembles of Christian art in the Balkans. The building is consecrated to St George "the Trophy-bearer" and remains an active Macedonian Orthodox church. What draws visitors and scholars alike is the wall decoration, executed in 1317–18 by the workshop of the painters Michael and Eutychios—the most sought-after studio of the Palaiologan era—and considered their crowning achievement. Generous cycles of the lives of Christ and St George, the apostles, bishops and saints cover almost every surface, capped by a luminous Christ Pantocrator in the central dome. A striking donor portrait shows King Milutin, who rebuilt the church, holding a model of it while St George hands him a sword.