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Sv. Pantelejmon, Nerezi

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  My junior year in college, I studied abroad in Florence, Italy, where I studied Italian art, history, language. At the beginning of the section on the Italian Renaissance, our Art History professor discussed the fresco called The Lamentation of Christ inside the Church of Sveti Pantelejmon in Nerezi, Macedonia as one of the frescoes that influenced the Italian Renaissance. I immediately remembered going there as a child (and apparently embarrassing my parents on one of the trips- but that’s for a different story); I remembered my Dad explaining to me the emotion one can see in Mary enveloping Jesus; and how remarkable it is in how well preserved it is after all the wars, earthquakes and other natural disasters throughout the centuries. It remains one of my most favorite places in the world to visit, even if it is a little hard to get to (we ended up going twice on this trip!) The view from the top is also not to be missed!
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Maalo

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  Bul Jane Sandanski, br 86-IV/22 An ode to the neighborhood (“maalo”), but not the elevator One day, I will write the stories of growing up in the maalo in Macedonia (à la Nageeb Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy). All of us growing up in Macedonia lived in different, often quite unique and specific maalos. We all had wonderful memories of spending most of our days outside, playing in the maalo with the other kids from that neighborhood. And it is a wonder that in the age before cell phones and internet, our parents let us play outside in such a manner. Being from a maalo was part of our identity and point of reference. Everyone will say theirs was the best, but ours was truly special. A microcosm of some of Macedonia’s most famous artists, actors and ballerinas, theater and music directors, singers and composers, journalists and writers, athletes and coaches, lawyers and judges and so many more. They were all there, living in apartments one on top of each other, next to each other, across ...
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