Heilige

Landschaft –
Heilige
Stiftung
Bibliothek
Werner
Achter
Oechslin
Internationaler

Berge
Einsiedeln
Barocksommerkurs
2007

gta Verlag
 9 Werner Oechslin, «Petit Aethera». Das Oben und Unten im ‘barocken’ Kontext

I

28 Jasmin Mersmann, Heilige/Landschaft. Anamorphosen in der Trinità dei Monti
44 Ria Fabri, Über Berg und Tal ins Heilige Land. Spuren von Pilgern und Pilgerfahrten
in Antwerpener Kunstsammlungen des 17. Jahrhunderts
54 Nenad Makuljević, Pilgrimage and Memory. The Picture of the Holy Land in Early
Modern Visual Culture of the Balkans

II

68 Berthold Hub, Geheilte Stadt durch heilige Land-schaft in Filaretes Libro architettonico
(ca. 1465)
84 Peter Stephan, Transformation und Transfiguration. Die bauliche und geistige
­Erneuerung Roms unter Sixtus V.
130 Gerd Blum, Berge als Bauten und Begrenzung. Giovanni Battista Agucchi, Giordano
Bruno, Galileo Galilei und die Aussicht der Villa Aldobrandini über Frascati
146 Andreas Tönnesmann, Enea Silvio und der Berg

III

158 Katja Burzer, «Non potest civitas abscondi supra montem posita». Die geplante
­Inszenierung Carlo Borromeos auf dem Sacro Monte in Arona
172 Eckhard Leuschner, Begehbare Bilder eines Heiligen Berges. «Il Sacro Monte della
Vernia» von Raffaello Schiaminossi und Domenico Falcini

IV

190 Piet Lombaerde, Utopie in der ‘verlassenen Landschaft’. Die neue Stadt Scherpenheuvel
als ‘neues Jerusalem’ in den spanisch-habsburgischen Niederlanden
202 Sandra Maria Rust, Der Grazer Kalvarienberg. Barocke Frömmigkeit im Dienste
­Jesuitischer Propaganda
214 Tobias Kunz, Authentische Orte – authentische Bilder. Die Renaissance mittel­
alterlicher Heiligenkulte im Schwarzwald des 18. Jahrhunderts
230 Axel Christoph Gampp, Alles glänzend! Der Sacro Monte von Hergiswald und dessen
künstlerische Voraussetzung in der Innerschweizer Skulptur des Barock
242 Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević, The Holy Mountain in Byzantine visual culture of
­medieval Balkans. Sinai – Athos – Treskavac
262 Klaus J. Loderer, Von Schneckenbergen, heiligen und künstlichen Bergen. Barocke
Kreuzwege und Kalvarienberge im Königreich Ungarn
 V

278 Mojmír Horyna, Die heilige Stätte als Weltmitte
294 Eckart Kühne, Sakrale Topographien im kolonialen Hispanoamerika: ein Überblick

VI

308 Johannes Stückelberger, Gipfelkreuze
318 Ulrich Heinen, Brocken am Watzmann – Fremde im eigenen Land. Caspar David
Friedrichs heilige Berge als Modell nationaler Gewaltimaginationen
(Für Bazon Brock)
340 Michael Groblewski, Der «colle santo» des Vittoriale degli Italiani
358 Harald Tesan, «High & Low». Perspektiven zwischen Berg und Tal in der M
­ oderne

389 Werner Oechslin, Postscript. Moderne Bild- und Sinnkrisen: «… Die Vertauschung von
Oben und Unten ist Programm» (Hans Sedlmayr)
Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević

The Holy Mountain in Byzantine visual culture of medieval Balkans

Sinai – Athos – Treskavac*

Since ancient times, Holy Mountains have been places of contact between the faithful and
God. Outside of the polis, they are places (τόποι) to visit during collective processions or for
private purposes. During antiquity Holy Mountains were interpreted as dwellings of gods,
and they were visited at certain time intervals (χρόνοι) and for annual ritual ceremonies. In
the context of the Byzantine Empire, Holy Mountains are defined by monastic life, adjusted
to the regulations of monastic constitution (typicon). Due to their great importance to the
religious community, Holy Mountains are distinguished by their visual culture. Sacred
topog­raphy, the visual identity of the Holy Mountains, their complex function and symbolic
mean­ing are the subject of this study. The Holy Mountains in the Byzantine Empire and in

Ill. 1: Mount Sinai, the

Monastery of Saint Catherine,
6th century, in: Sinai, treasures
of the Monastery of Saint
Catherine, Konstantinos
A. Manafis (ed.), Athens 1990,
p. 41, fig. 1

242
 Eastern Orthodoxy are analyzed according to their sacred and symbolical structure which
represents the reception of the hierarchical vertical principle, above – below.1 Moreover this
paper explores the topographic structure and symbolic meaning of Holy Mountains in light
of theological ideas and the religious experience of pilgrims in the Byzantine Empire and the
medieval Balkans. It also discusses different forms of visual culture and communication that
have been preserved on the Holy Mountains of Sinai, Athos and Treskavac.
In Christian tradition, Holy Mountains are linked to significant events in biblical history.
Therefore, the Holy Mountains of the Old Testament are regarded metaphorically as pre­
figurative places of the events or persons from the New Testament. In the New Testament,
Holy Mountains appear as loci of the key events in the life of Christ – the Temptation on «a
very high mountain» (Mt 4, 8), the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, the Crucifixion on Cal­
vary-Golgotha, the Ascension on the Mount of Olives, and the Descent of the Holy Spirit
on Mount Zion. In addition to being mnemonic places of the events of the Old and the New
Testament, Holy Mountains are also places where – within the memory of the past – one
­anticipates the future, the ‘second heaven’ or ‘second paradise’. To the faithful in the Mid­dle
Ages, Holy Mountains represented transcendental places of contact between reality and ‘the
Supreme’, ‘Heavenly’. Visualizing Holy Mountains is regarded in the same context. As in
icons, holy paintings or other similar objects, the visual shaping of Holy Mountains and the
creation of sacred topography become proof of divine presence. Thus different ‘remains’,
artefacts, architectural objects, paintings, artistic handicrafts and traces of medieval visual
communication become potential ‘documents’ of contact between divine and earthly
spheres.­

I  The Sacred Structure of the Holy Mountains

In the conception of Byzantine sacred topography inferred in theological interpretations

and exegeses, Holy Mountains are defined as heavenly places, described in ekphrases as an­
cient loci amoeni.2 Separated from mundane life and isolated from the world, these «zones»
of contact with the remote, unreal and divine are places that bring forth to mind nostalgic

* I am grateful to the Austrian Agency for Inter­ http://www.bibliothek-oechslin.ch/veranstaltungen/

national Cooperation in Education & Research
(OeAD-GmbH) for their financial support, reward­
ing me the scholarship One Month Visits/Benedek,
during the writing of this article.
1 Term «above – below» signifies physical image of
the world and its symbolic meaning. It was inspired
by Werner Oechslin’s definition at the Barocksom­
merkurs in 2007. «Above» defines space of God’s
presence, while «below» refers to the space of man’s
life on earth. Cf. Werner Oechslin: «Oben und Un­
ten» and «nil superius», in: «Zur Einführung», in:
sommerkurse/2007 [21. 7. 2013].
2 The territory of the Holy Mountain was, from the
11th century, defined as loci amoeni in Byzantine
liter­ature and ekphrases. Cf. Hans-Veit Beyer, «Der
“Heilige Berg” in der byzantinischen Literatur I»,
in: Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 30
(1981), pp. 171–205; on the Holy Mount defined as
paradise in Serbian medieval literature see for ex­
ample: Teodosije, hilandarski monah, Žitije svetog
Save, translation from old church Slavonic to mod­
ern Serbian by Lazar Mirković, Dimitrije Bog­
danović (ed.), Beograd 1992, p. 130.

Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević.  The Holy Mountain in Byzantine visual culture of medieval Balkans 243
memories. They can be interpreted as utopia, non-places and «other» places or heterotopi­
as, to apply Michel Foucault’s3 term and they are simultaneously «Gedächtnisorte», places of
memory, as termed by Aleida Assmann.4
Holy Mountains are above all chosen places with great importance in the perception,
psychology and aesthetics of medieval people. The memory of biblical events and the sym­
bol of Holy Mountains were deeply embedded not only in the consciousness of medieval
people, but also in the literary tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy.5 These locations of «second
paradise» and «second heaven» are visited with special intentions, wishes and reverence.
Such places are distinguished by their characteristic monasticism, architecture, visual culture
and literature as well as by their intellectual and philosophical lifestyle.6 In the Byzantine
Empire, Holy Mountains were not only constructed as memorials of miraculous theophany,
but also as dwelling places of holy monks. They are specially selected and isolated places
where forms of monastic asceticism have been practiced since the earliest periods of Chris­
tianity.7
The model of the Holy Mountain in the Byzantine cultural area reflects the vertical sac­
red structure defined on the Holy Mountain of Sinai, which is transferred to successive Holy
Mountains such as Athos and other Holy Mountains inhabited by monks. One such moun­
tain in the Balkan peninsula, the Holy Mountain and sacred territory of the Treskavac mon­
astery near Prilep demonstrates the recognizable structure of the Holy Mountain, which
from top to bottom consists of:

– the Holy Peak

– hermitages, cells, parekklesion (chapels) on the way to the Peak
– the monastery with a church at the foot of the Mountain

The three mountains presented in this paper demonstrate this structure and all are dedicated
to the cult of the Mother of God.

II  The models of the Holy Mountains

Sinai (Άγιον Όρος Σινά)

Mount Sinai is the place of divine and miraculous theophany and consecration for Hebrew,
Christian and Islamic religions. It is described in dogmatic narratives such as the Tanakh, the
New Testament and in the Qur’ān as a meeting place between man and God.8 In the Jewish
culture there is no evidence of sacred topography on the territory of the Sinai Peninsula
which would map the events from the Biblical past, as can be seen in Christianity and Islam.
There is no evidence of Jewish pilgrimage in the Helenistic period that links Sinai and the
Holy Mountain with the place of God’s revelation to Moses (Ex 3, 1–4, 17), or the place for
receiving the Tables of the Law (Ten Commandments, Ex 24, 12–31, 18) or the place of the
Burning Bush (Ex 3, 1–12) described in the Old Testament.9 Even though Sinai is described
as one of the four holy places on Earth, together with the Garden of Eden, the Mountain of
the East and Mount Zion, it did not become a place of pilgrimage once Jerusalem had be­

244
 3 On the principles of creation and experience of
other places, in philosophical poststructuralist
­interpretation: Michel Foucault, «Von anderen
Räumen», in: Raumtheorie, Grundlagentexte aus
Philosophie und Kulturwissenschaften, Jörg Dün­
ne/Stephan Günzel (ed.), Frankfurt am Main 2006,
pp. 317–327.
4 Aleida Assmann, Erinnerungsräume, Formen und
Wandlungen des kulturellen Gedächtnisses, München
2003, pp. 298–339.
5 Holy Mountains, mountains and «inner moun­
tains» are some of the characteristic motifs of Slavic
anchoretic literature and hagiographies. Cf. Nina
Gagova/Irena Špadijer, «Dve varijante anahorets­
kog tipa u južnoslovenskoj hagiografiji – Teodosije­
vo Žitije svetog Petra Koriškog i Jevtimijevo Žitije
­svetog Jovana Rilskog», in: Slovensko srednjovekovno
nasleđe – zbornik posvećen profesoru Đorđu Trifunoviću,
ed. by Zorica Vitić, Tomislav Jovanović and Irena
Špadijer, Beograd 2001, pp. 159–171.
6 On the art and architecture of Mount Sinai and
Athos see: Paul Huber, Heilige Berge. Sinai, Athos,
Golgota. Ikonen, Fresken, Miniaturen, Zürich 1982;
id., Athos. Leben, Glaube, Kunst, Zürich 1982; Sinai,
treasures of the Monastery of Saint Catherine, Kons­
tantinos A. Manafis (ed.), Athens 1990; Kurt Weitz­
mann/Mantolis Chatzidakis/Sventozar Radojčić,
Die Ikonen. Sinai, Griechenland und Jugoslawien,
Freiburg im Breisgau/Wien et al. 1998; Athanasios
A. Karakatsanis, Treasures of Mount Athos, catalogue
of the exhibition: «Treasures of Mount Athos»,
Thessaloniki 1997; Sinaj, Vizantija, Rus’, pravoslav-
noe iskusstvo s 6 do načala 20 veka, katalog vystavki,
Oriana Baddeley and others (ed.), Sankt-Petersburg
2000; Robert S. Nelson/Kristen M. Collins, Holy
Image, Hallowed Ground. Icons from Sinai, ed. by
Rob­ert S. Nelson and Kristen M. Collins, Los An­
geles: J. Paul Getty Museum 2007; Approaching the
Holy Mountain art and lit­urgy at St. Catherine’s
­Monastery in the Sinai, ed. by Sharon E. J. Gerstel,
Turnhout: Brepols 2010; Nikodim P. Kondakov,
Pamjatniki christianskago iskusstva na Athon, St. Pe­
tersburg 1902; Hilandar monastery, Gojko Subotić
(ed.), Belgrade 1998; Kurt Weitzmann, Aus den Bib-
liotheken des Athos. Illustrierte Handschriften aus mit-
tel- und spätbyzantinischer Zeit, Hamburg 1963;
Thomas Steppan, Die Athos-Lavra und der trikon­
chale Kuppelnaos in der byzantinischen Architektur,
München 1995; on the possible origin of Athonite
architectural design and creation of models in Byz­
antine visual culture see: Anastasios Tantsis, «The
so-called “Athonite” type of church and two shrines
of the Theotokos in Constantinople», Zograf 34
(2010), pp. 2–11.
Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević.  The Holy Mountain in Byzantine visual culture of medieval Balkans
7 For Holy Mountains in the Byzantine Empire, see:
Alice-Mary Talbot, «Les saintes Montagnes à
­Byzance», in: Le sacré et son inscription dans l’espace à
Byzance et en Occident, sous la direction de Michel
Kaplan, Paris 2001, pp. 263–275; Alice-Mary
­Talbot, «Holy Mountain», in: ODB II (Oxford Dic­
tionary of Byzantium, vol. II), p. 941. In the Middle
Byzantine period there are also monastic Holy
Mountains in the Middle East, on Mount Olympus
in Bythinia, Auxentios, Latros, Galesia, Ganos and
medieval Serbia and the Balkans. Some of these
mountains were the topic of historical geography
section at the Congress of Byzantine Studies in
London in 2006. Cf. Heilige Berge und Wüsten:
­Byzanz und sein Umfeld, ­Peter Soustal (ed.), Wien
2009. The withdrawal of the monastic groups was
in accordance with ascetic life and the strivings of
those who genuflect, but also with the rules of mo­
nastic life in the Byzantine Empire, as was stated in
the research of Dionysia Papachrysanthu. See: id.,
Atonsko monaštvo, Beograd 2004; (id., Ho athōnikos
monachismos: arches kai organōsē, Athēna 1992).
8 The space where Mount Sinai was formed was a
cult place for pagan people, «Saracens», Nabateans
and others which adored idols and the star of Aph­
rodite in that place. See: Sophia Kalopissi-Verti/
Maria ­Panayotidi, «Excavations on the Holy
­Summit», in: Approaching the Holy Mountain, ed. by
Sharon E. J. Gerstel and Robert Nelson, Turnhout:
Brepols 2010, p. 75.
9 Regarding the problem of locating Sinai in Israelite
tradition, or seeing Sinai as mythical place which
never had a role in the popular image of eschato­
logical pilgrimage, cf. Allen Kerkeslager, «Jewish
Pilgrim­age and Jewish Identity in Hellenistic and
Early Roman Egypt», in: Pilgrimage and Holy Space
in Late Antique Egypt, ed. by David Frankfurter,
Leiden/Boston/Köln: Brill 1998, pp. 99–225.
245
 come God’s most important «dwelling place». Sinai remains significant in transcendental
and symbolical memory as a place of ‫( מתן תורה‬Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah) and it
continues to be celebrated in Hebrew liturgical practice.10 Conversely, Christian sacred to­
pography was constructed very early on Sinai.11 It was primarily consisted of a Holy Peak, a
hermitage, a cell, traces of visual culture in stone, altars and a monastery at the foot of the
divine mountain. According to the legend, the Monastery of Saint Catherine was erected as
a church for the monks, which had been established by Empress Helena, the mother of Em­
peror Constantine.12 The monastery, located at the foot of the Holy Mountain, with a church
dedicated to the Mother of God, from the time of Justinian, cherishes the cult of the ­Burning
Bush, which in Christian interpretation represents the virginity of the Mother of God, a
bush that burns, but never burns out.13 (ill. 1)
Since its earliest period, the Christian church has constructed a sacred space on Mount
Sinai not only to commemorate Moses’ stay and his contact with God at the top of the Holy
Mountain, but also to commemorate other well-known holy figures: the prophet Elijah, the
prophet Aaron, the hegumenos of the Sinai monastery, Saint John Climacus and, in the 12th
century, Saint Catherine.14 The monastic colony left traces of its sojourn on the mountain
after 363.15 The visual culture of Sinai consists of holy points, memorial stops which reflect
the presence of God, saints or pilgrims. The remains of material culture include monaster­
ies, hermitages, cells, praying places and parekklesion, as well as traces of visual communica­
tion on the rocks and stones attesting of the pilgrims’ stay on this Holy Mountain.16
Pilgrimages to Sinai were undertaken in order to receive the blessings of contact with
­divine nature and the dwelling places of God, but also with the goal that the chosen ones
would obtain supernatural powers.17 Early evidence of religious pilgrimage and pious prac­
tice­to Sinai comes from the Spanish pilgrim Egeria in the 4th century.18 She attests to God-
serv­ing­practices, which took place both inside and outside the monastery, at the places
­bear­ing the memory of divine theophany: «Sed facta est oratio in ecclesia nec non etiam et
in horto ad rubum; …»19 Similarly, Egeria confirms that even in the 4th century the entire
space of the Sinai monastic settlement was visualized by the holy space of Moses’ stay and
was thus a place of special pilgrimage: «Locus etiam ostenditur ibi iuxta, ubi stetit sanctus
Moyses, quando ei dixit Deus: “Solve corrigiam calciamenti tui” et cetera.» or: «… itaque

10 Cf. George J. Brooke, «Moving Mountains: From Athen: Verl. d. «Byzantinisch-Neugriechischen

Sinai to Jerusalem», in: The Significance of Sinai.
Traditions about Sinai and Divine Revelation in Juda-
ism and Christianity, George J. Brooke/Hindy Naj­
man/Loren T. Stuckenbruck (ed.), Leiden/Bosten:
Brill 2008, pp. 73–89, esp. p. 79.
11 The Sinai complex and its significance for the east­
ern Christian church is confirmed by the library of
the Sinai Monastery with a collection of the old
Greek, Arabic, Syrian, Georgian, and also Slavic,
Glagolitic, Serbian, Russian and Bulgarian manu­
scripts. For example cf. Vladimir Nicolas Bénéché­
vitch, Les manuscrits grecs du Mont Sinaï et le monde
savant de l’Europe depuis le XVIIe siècle jusqu’à 1927,
Jahr­bücher» 1937; Aziz Suryal Aṭīya, The Arabic
manu­scripts of Mount Sinai, A hand-list of the Arabic
manu­scripts and scrolls microfilmed at the library of the
monastery of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai, Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins Press 1955.
12 Under Justinian I, after the death of Empress
Theodora 548 AD, according to an inscription in
the catholicon of the present monastery a new
church­was built which was surrounded by fortifica­
tion walls. On the Monastery of Saint Catherine
and donor’s inscription noticed as early as in the
15th century by the Russian pilgrim Danilo, a met­
ropolitan from Ephesus, see: Ihor Ševčenko, «The

246
 early period of the Sinai monastery in the light of
its inscriptions», in: DOP (Dumbarton Oaks
­Papers) 20 (1966), pp. 255–264, esp. pp. 256, 262:
inscription 4 and 5; John Galey, Sinai and the mon­
astery of St. Catherine, George H. Forsyth/Kurt
Weitzmann (ed.), Cairo 1985; John Galey/Kurt
Weitzmann, Das Katharinenkloster auf dem Sinai,
Stuttgart 2003.  Anonymos Athous Dionysiou from the 15th century,
13 On the architecture of the Monastery in Sinai and
church see: Peter Grossmann, «Architecture», in:
Manafis, Sinai, treasures of the Monastery of Saint
Catherine, op. cit. (note 6), pp. 29–39; id., «Early
Christian Architecture in Egypt and its Relation­
ship to the Architecture of the Byzantine World»,
in: Egypt in the Byzantine World 300–700, Cam­
bridge Univ. Press 2007, pp. 103–136. Procopius
also testifies that the monastery was not built at the
top of the mountain, but much lower, and a military
fortress was built at the coast of the peninsula. Cf.
Johannes Grossmann, «Der Bau des Sinaiklosters
nach Prokopios und Eutychios», in: Wiener Byzanti-
nistik und Neogräzistik. Beiträge zum Symposium
vierzig Jahre Institut für Byzantinistik und Neogrä­
zistik der Universität Wien im Gedenken an Her­
bert Hunger (Wien, 4.–7. Dezember 2002) (BNV
24), Wien 2004, pp. 165–176, esp. p. 171. The first
one who interpreted the Burning Bush as Prefigura­
tion of the Mother of God was Saint Gregory of
Nissa in the Life of Moses. Cf. Grégoire de Nysse,
La vie de Moïse: ou traité de la perfection en matière de
vertu, introd., texte crit. et trad. de Jean Daniélou,
Paris 2000, p. 57, n. 3; Mirjana Tatić-Djurić,
­«Bogorodica u delu arhiepiskopa Danila II», in:
­Arhiepiskop Danilo II i njegovo doba, Vojislav J. Djurić
(ed.), Beograd 1991, p. 396.
4 On the cult of Saint Catherine on Sinai see: Nancy
1 mer theologisches Forum, JthF, Bd. 10), Münster
Ševčenko, «St. Catherine of Alexandria and Mount
Sinai», in: Ritual and Art. Byzantine essays for Chris­
topher Walter, ed. by Pamela Armstrong, London
2006, pp. 129–143; id., «The monastery of Mount
Sinai and the cult of St. Catherine», in: Byzantium:
Faith and power (1261–1557), Perspective on Late
­Byzantine Art and Culture, ed. Sarah T. Brooks, New
York 2006, pp. 118–137; David Jacoby, «Christian
pil­grim­age to Sinai until the late fifteenth century»,
in: Nelson/Collins, Holy Image, Hallowed Ground,
op. cit. (note 6), pp. 78–92.
15 On the beginnings of monastic life on Sinai: Peter
Grossmann, «Besuche und Überfälle in der vorjus­
tinianischen Laura am Mosesberg», in: Byzantini-
sche Zeitschrift (BZ) 92 (1999), Heft 2, pp. 455–465.
The forms of monastic cells and dwellings of the
holy fathers of the Holy Mountain of Sinai from the
Early Byzantine period have been published in a
study by Uzi Dahari, from the Archeological Insti­
Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević.  The Holy Mountain in Byzantine visual culture of medieval Balkans
tute in Jerusalem, see: Uzi Dahari, Monastic settle-
ments in South­Sinai in the Byzantine period, the
­archaeological remains, Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities
Authority 2000.
16 The monastic community and settlement are re­c­
orded by the following Sinai pilgrims: Egeria (4th
century), Anonymus from Piacenza (6th century) as
cf. Bernhard Kötting, Peregrinatio religiosa. Wall-
fahrten in der Antike und das Pilgerwesen in der alten
Kirche,­Münster (Westf.): Regensberg 1950, p. 110;
Andreas Külzer, Peregrinatio graeca in Terram Sanc-
tam. Studien­zu Pilgerführern und Reisebeschreibungen
über Syrien, Palästina und den Sinai aus byzantinischer
und meta­byzantinischer Zeit, Frankfurt am Main/
Wien et al.: Lang 1994, p. 337. 
17 On the pilgrimage to Sinai: Andreas Külzer, «By­
zantine and early post-Byzantine pilgrimage to the
Holy Land and to Mount Sinai», in: Travel in the
Byzantine world. Papers from the Thirty-fourth
Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Birming­
ham, April 2000, ed. by Ruth Macrides, Aldershot:
Ashgate Variorum 2002, pp. 160–161; on the liter­
ary context for pil­grimage in late antiquity see:
Georgia Frank, The memory of the eyes, pilgrims to
­living saints in Christian late antiquity, Berkeley, Los
Angeles 2000.
18 Egeria’s travels, translated by John Wilkinson, War­
minster: Aris & Phillips 31999 (London: 11981). On
the evidence of old liturgical praxis in Egeria’s de­
scription of Jerusalem see: Heinzgerd Brakmann,
«Am Ort der Freude stehen, Jerusalem, Egeria und
ein altkirchlicher Kultbefehl», in: Laetare Ierusalem.
Festschrift zum 100jährigen Ankommen der Benedikti-
nermönche auf dem Jerusalemer Zionsberg (= Jerusale­
2006, pp. 175–185.
19 Egeria, Itinerarium, 4.8, in: Egeria, Itinerarium.
­Reisebericht, übers. und eingel. von Georg Röwe­
kamp unter Mitarbeit von Dietmar Thönnes, Frei­
burg im Breisgau/Basel/Wien et al.: Herder 1995
(= Fontes Christiani, Bd. 20), p. 136 and Egeria’s
travels, Wilkinson, op. cit. (note 18), p. 112: «…,
but we had a prayer in the church, and also in the
garden by the Bush, …»
247
 Ill. 2: The Monastery at Sinai
painted on the back of the
Archiepiscopal Throne in the
central aisle of the catholicon.
A work of the painter Ioannis
Kornaros, tempera, 18th
century, in: Sinai, treasures of
the Monastery of Saint
Catherine, Konstantinos
A. Manafis (ed.), Athens 1990,
p. 15)

248
ergo singula, quemadmodum venimus per ipsam totam vallem, semper nobis sancti illi loca
demonst­rabant.»; «… videramus etiam et illum locum, in quo steterat ante rubum sanctus
Moyses, quando ei dixit Deus: “Solve corrigiam calciamenti tui; locus enim, in quo stas, ter­
ra sancta est.”»20 Egeria also describes Elijah’s cave, his hermitage and the place where Elijah
himself built the altar.21
In Byzantine visual culture, a symbolic connection is made between physical elements
and their symbolic meaning. The network of sacred spaces begins with a stairway connecting
the monastery at the foot of the Holy Mountain to the top of it. The stairway dates from the
6th century, when it was built for the needs of the pilgrims.22 Climbing the stone steps (ὁ
κλι̃μαξ) up to the summit of Sinai is paralleled to a spiritual ascension recommended by the
Ladder of Divine Ascent by an abbot of the Sinai Monastery of the Mother of God, John Cli­
macus (525–606) or Saint John of the Ladder as was later known. This handbook for Byzan­
tine monks describing the road of metaphysical divine ascension to heavenly mountains must
have been inspired by the holy space of Mount Sinai.23 Correspondingly scholars have con­
firmed that the physical set of steps was built during the 6th and 7th centuries, and the name
of John the abbot appears in the inscription on one of the arches leading to the top of Mount
Sinai. The inscription reads: «Ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας του̃ ἀββα̃ ’Ιωάννου του̃ ἡγουμένου καὶ
…»24 and corresponds to the period when Saint John of the Ladder was at Sinai. Ascension,
which is the aim of the monastic feat in terms of both physical and spiritual effort, is testified
by this ladder and visualized in the famous 12th century icon from the Sinai Monastery show­
ing the ladder and the monks’ struggle with demons.25
The construction of the sacred topography on Mount Sinai has become the model for
Byzantine anchoretic Holy Mountains throughout the entire territory of Eastern Christian­
ity. Over the centuries, numerous hermitages and parekklesion commemorating the places
where saints stayed on this Holy Mountain, as well as certain miraculous events have been

20 Egeria, Itinerarium, Röwekamp, op. cit. (note 19),
4. 8, p. 136 and Egeria’s travels, Wilkinson, op. cit.
(note 18), p. 112: «Near by you are also shown the
place where holy Moses was standing when God
said to him, “Undo the fastening of thy shoes”, and
so on.» (Ex 3, 5); Egeria, Itinerarium, Röwekamp,
op. cit., 5. 1, pp. 136–138 and Egeria’s travels, Wil­
kinson, op. cit., pp. 112–113: «And all the way along
the valley the holy man were showing us the differ­
ent places»; Egeria, Itinerarium, Röwekamp,
op. cit., 5. 2, p. 138 and Egeria’s travels, Wilkinson,
op. cit., p. 112: «… we saw also the place where Mo­
ses was standing before the Bush, when God said to
him, “Undo the fastening of thy shoes: for the place
whereon thou standest is holy ground.”»
21 Egeria, Itinerarium, Röwekamp, op. cit. (note 19),
4. 2, p. 132 and Egeria’s travels, Wilkinson, op. cit.
(note 18), p. 111.
22 Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai, Egypt, A photo­
graphic Essay, text by H. C. Evans, New York 2004,
p. 27.
23 Saint John Climacus will become the role model of
hesychastic theology: Heiliger Johannes vom Sinai,
Klimax oder die Himmelsleiter, Athen: Berg-Sinai-
Stiftung 2000; on the theology of John Climacus:
John Chryssavgis, John Climacus. From the Egyptian
desert to the Sinaite mountain, Aldershot: Ashgate
2004.
24 «For the salvation of Abba Iohannes the Abbot and
…», cf. Ševčenko, The early period of the Sinai
monastery, op. cit. (note 12), p. 257, inscription
No. 11, p. 263: «Ὑπὲρ σωτηρία̣ς του̃ | ἀββα̃ ̣̣
̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ του̃ | ἡγουμένου
’Ιωάν[ν]ου ̣ ̣̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ καὶ
̣ ̣ ̣ – – – –», s. p.:
fig. 11A, fig. 11B.
25 Manafis, Sinai, treasures of the Monastery of Saint
Catherine, op. cit. (note 6), pp. 108, 155, fig. 24.

Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević.  The Holy Mountain in Byzantine visual culture of medieval Balkans 249
 Ill. 3: Anonymous author,
Mount Athos and The
Mother of God named
«Tricherusa» (The Mother of
God of «Three Hands» /
Trojeručica), ἡ Παναγία ἡ
Τριχηρούσα, copper
engraving, Vienna 1763, the
Monastery of Chilandari, in:
Dinko Davidov, Svetogorska
grafika, Beograd 2004, p. 34,
fig. 138

preserved within the framework of the material and visual culture of the sacred space on
Mount Sinai.26
Events in Sinai, such as the Vision of Moses or the Reception of Tablets of the Law, were
visualized in Byzantine culture at a very early stage, as can be seen in the mosaics of the
catho­licon of the Sinai monastery from the 6th century.27 On the eastern wall above the tri­
umphal arch in the sanctuary, the mosaics show images of Moses loosening his sandal before
the Burning Bush, and Moses receiving the Tablets of the Law.28 God’s encounter with Mo­
ses in his Vision and Reception of the Tablets were often visualized in Byzantine illumination­
of post-iconoclastic period, as well as in the icons preserved in the Monastery of Saint Cath­
erine in Sinai.29 Sinai icons from the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th century show
images of the prophet Elias, who also lived on this Holy Mountain, as well as images of the
prophet Moses.30
The sacred topography of the Holy Mount Sinai was also visualized in pilgrims’ painted
and printed icons of Sinai from the 15th to the 19th century. These depictions provide an in­
sight into the sacred topography of the landscape and of monastic life. Among them are the
icon of Iacovos Moskos from the first quarter of the 18th century31, and, in the catholicon of
Sinai Monastery, an icon on the back of the archbishop’s throne made for the Archbishop of
Sinai Cyril II (1759–1789).32 (ill. 2)

Athos (Άγιον Όρος Άθως)

The model of the Holy Mountain Athos is crucial in the formation of sacred topographies
in the Balkans.33 It has a key role in transferring intellectual, artistic, architectural and an­
choretic lifestyle throughout the entire Middle Ages to Athos, which – even in ancient times
– was described as the Holy Mountain. Its appearance and peak inspired the ancient ar­

250
chitect Dinocrates to be the first to form this mountain, and his plans were later recalled in
the Baroque period.34 The formation of the Christian Holy Mountain can be traced back to
written sources from the 9th and 10th century and is attributed to the founders of cenobitic,
monastic life on Athos – Athanasius the Athonite, the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros Pho­
kas and the foundation of the Monastery of Great Lavra. The legend links the creation of
the Holy Mountain to the visit of the Holy Mother of God. The Holy Mountain Athos is
«her garden», and she is the «mother of all churches on Athos», whether they bear a dedi­
cation to her or not.35 Her cult has been present on this Holy Mountain for centuries, which
is proven by numerous monastic dedications (in Chilandari, Iviron, Vatopedi, Philotheou),
miraculous relics and icons of the Mother of God in the Athos monasteries.36 (ill. 3) In Chris­
tian theology and liturgy, the Mother of God is prefigurated as the Holy Mountain. The
litur­gical interpretations of the prophecies of the prophet Habakkuk (Hab 3, 1–19) and Dan­
iel (Dan 2, 31–35) celebrate her virginity as a mountain untouched and untamed and Christ
as a rock not created by human hand. Symbolic identification of the Holy Mount with the
Mother of God is also based on the prophetic prefigurations from the Old Testament (Is 2, 2
and 30, 29; Mi 4, 8; Ps 23, 3)37 which are incorporated into liturgy and prayers through
Christian theological learning and exegesis.38 In this way, «The Mother of God, the Holy

26 Thus during centuries numerous parekklesion
would visually memorize the stay of particular saints
and prophets or events from Christian history. On
the appearance of the chapel of Saint John the Bap­
tist, Saint Elias, Prophet Aaron, Saint Catherine,
Saint Pantaleon, Chapel of Saint John the Ladder,
see: Athanasios D. Paliuras, Das Katharinen-Kloster
auf der Sinai-Halbinsel, Sinai 1985, fig. 183–184,
pp. 206–213.
27 David Brown, «Sinai in Art and Architecture», in:
The significance of Sinai. Traditions about Sinai and
­divine revelation in Judaism and Christianity, ed. by
George J. Brooke/Hindy Najman/Loren T. Stu­
chenbruck, Leiden: Brill 2008, pp. 313–331.
28 Manafis, Sinai, treasures of the Monastery of Saint
Catherine, op. cit. (note 6), pp. 80 et seq., fig. 8, 10.
29 An example can be found in the illustrations of the
11th century copy of the Christian Topography by
Cosmas Indicopleustes (Sinai Codex, No. 1186, fol
75v) where we could see the Vision of Moses and
the Receiving of the Tablets of the Law. Cf. Mana­
fis, Sinai, treasures of the Monastery of Saint Cath­
erine, op. cit. (note 6), p. 342, fig. 29.  God. Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium, Maria
30 Sinaj, Vizantija, Rus’, pp. 242–244, ill. 58, 59; Mana­
fis, Sinai, treasures of the Monastery of Saint Cath­
erine, op. cit. (note 6), pp. 110–111, p. 164, fig. 34,
pp. 166, 167, fig. 36, 37.  1976, pp. 92–94.
31 On icon see: Manafis, Sinai, treasures of the Monas­
tery of Saint Catherine, op. cit. (note 6), p. 131,
fig. 100.
32 Id., p. 15, p. 131, n. 97.
33 Panagiotis C.  Christou, Athos. The holy mountain.
History, life, treasures, Thessalonikē: Kyromanos
1990; Athanasios A. Angelopulos, Monaška zajednica
Svete gore, Manastir Hilandar 1997; id., Ho kosmos
tēs orthodoxias sto parelthon kai sto paron,
Thessalonikē 2006.
34 Werner Oechslin, «Dinocrates and the Myth of the
Megalomaniacal Institution of Architecture», Dai-
dalos (1982), Heft 4, pp. 7–26.
35 Domentijan, Životi svetog Save i svetoga Simeona,
transl. Lazar Mirković, Vladimir Ćorović (ed.),
­Beograd 1938, p. 61.
36 Mirjana Tatić-Djurić, «Čudotvorne ikone presvete
Bogorodice na Svetoj gori Atonskoj», in: Četvrta
kazivanja o Svetoj gori, Beograd 2005, pp. 48–83;
Aна­толий A.Турилов, «Рассказы о чудотворных
иконах монастира Хиландар в русской записи XVI
века», in: Чудотворная икона в Византии и
древней Руси, Alexei M. Lidov (ed.), Mосква 1996,
pp. 510–525; Kriton Chryssochoidis, «The Portai­
tissa icon at Iveron monastery and the cult of the
Virgin on Mount Athos», in: Images of Mother of
Vassilaki (ed.), Aldershot: Ashgate 2005,
pp. 133–141.
37 Joseph Ledit, Marie dans la liturgie de Byzance, Paris
38 Σωφρονίου Εὐστρατιάδου, Ἡ Θεοτόκος ἐν τῆ
ὑμνογραφία, Paris 1930, p. 53 (ὄρος).

Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević.  The Holy Mountain in Byzantine visual culture of medieval Balkans 251
Mount» is celebrated in church songs, daily worship and services.39 In the exegetical tradition­
of the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of Prophet Daniel, the Holy Mount is seen
as a prefiguration of the Mother of God’s utmost miracle, God’s Incarnation. The visualiza­
tion of the typological celebration of the Mother of God as the Holy Mount in Byzantine art
can be found in 9th century Byzantine marginal Psalters and 14th century wall paintings from
the Balkans. In the Psalter miniatures, the Mother of God is present in the illustration
Ps. 67, 17 which is connected to the prophecy of Daniel (Dan 2, 34). The connection be­
tween the Psalter and Daniel’s prophecy is established in Patriarch Germanus’ exegesis.40 In
contrast to the compositional solutions in the later painting where Emperor Nabuchodono­
sor is represented alone, in the interpretations of Emperor Nabuchodonosor’s dream in the
Psalter miniatures, only Daniel is shown together with Emperor David, the author of the
Psalm. In the miniatures on folio 64r of the Chludov Psalter, folio 83v of the Pantokrator Psal-
ter and folio 110v of the Barberini Psalter prophet Daniel is lying down, whereas David is
standing in front of an escarpment rock. On the top of the mountain there is a medallion
with the icon of the Mother of God with Christ.41 In the Bristol Psalter on folio 105, the bust
of Christ is shown instead of the medallion with the Mother of God, but the inscriptions ex­
plain the meaning of the image in line with the interpretation that the Mother of God is the
Holy Mount and that Christ is the rock (ὄρος ἐστίν ἡ Θ[εοτό]κος λίθος δὲ ὁ Χ[ριστό]ς).42
Similarly, in the composition of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream in the painting of the church of
the Mother of God Perivlepta in Ochrid (1294/1295), the Mother of God is prefigured as the
Holy Mount, but now in quite a different way compared to the manuscript tradition.43 This
composition is closer to the iconographical model mentioned in the painting manuals.44 The
central figure is Emperor Nebuchadnezzar lying on his bed, while the medallion with the
Mother of God is placed on the high rocky mountain. (ill. 4) The symbolic dimension of the

Ill. 4: The Mother of God –

«Mount» in the scene of
Nabuchodonosor’s first
Dream, 1294 /1295, The
Mother of God Perivlepta
Church, narthex, Ochrid
(photo Ivan Djordjević)

252
Mother of God the Holy Mount is clearly underlined in this composition based on Daniel’s
interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
The Mother of God the Holy Mount is also present in the iconographic theme Ἄνωθεν οἱ
προφη̃ται.45 The iconographic type of the Mother of God of the «Uncut Mount» (gora
nerukosy;na) was developed, particularly in Russian artistic production of the 16th and the
17th century.46
The motif of «The Mother of God, the Holy Mount» can be found in many medieval
Serbian narratives which are especially significant in the tradition of the Balkan peninsula.
Thus, during Saint Sava’s stay in Mount Athos, the Holy Mount and the Virgin Mary
emerged­in his dream, as a kind of vision or «revelation».

«When he went to bed to rest, the Mountain of wisdom, the Mountain

of God, the green mountain, the mountain soaked in the Holy Spirit,
the mountain resembling heaven, the mountain higher than the
heavenly mountains, suited to all angelic forces, i.e. pure Virgin and
the Mother of my God, from whom without a seed, without human
touch, from her virgin bonds as from a great mountain, according to
miraculous Daniel, Christ, the rock, was pulled, shattering all devilish
idols and by appearing in a dream, raised his soul.»47

Similarly, Serbian writers confirm that the Holy Mount Athos was «the place where the
­Mother of God walked», that the monastic dwellings on it were «the Holy Mother’s villag­

39 Ledit, Marie dans la liturgie de Byzance, op. cit.
(note 37), p. 93.
40 The typology of Daniel’s prophecy was frequently
expounded by the Fathers, and allusions to it recur
in 8th and 9th century texts, although only Germa­
nus (ca 378 – ca 448) actually associates it with this
Psalm. Cf. Christopher Walter, «Christological
Themes in the Byzantine Marginal Psalters from
the Ninth to the Eleventh Century», in: Revue des
études byzantines 44 (1986), pp. 275–276.  Beo­grad 2002, p. 486; id., Stari slikarski priručnici,
41 Sirarpie Der Nersessian, «L’Illustration des psau­
tiers grecs du moyen âge II: Londres, add. 19.352»,
in: Bibliothèque des cahiers archéologiques 5 (Paris
1970), p. 37, Planche 46; Charles Barber, Theodore
Psalter, Electronic Facsimile, Champaign, Uni­
versity of Illinois Press 2000, fol. 84r; Marfa Vlaces­
lavovna Ščepkina/Ivan Dujčev (ed.), Miniatury
Chludovskoj psaltyri, Moskva 1977, fol. 64; Suzy
­Dufrenne, «L’illustration des psautiers grecs du
­moyen âge», in: Bibliothèque des cahiers archéolo­-
giques 1 ­(Paris 1966), p. 27, pl. 11.  47 In this manner medieval writer Theodosius from
42 Dufrenne, L’illustration des psautiers grecs, op. cit.
(note 41), p. 60, pl. 53.
43 Gabriel Millet/A.  Frolow, La peinture de Moyen Âge
en Yugoslavie, tome III: Serbie, Macédonie et Monté­
négro, Paris 1962, pl. 13/1; Petar Miljković Pepek,
Deloto na zografite Mihailo i Eutihij, Skopje 1967,
p. 51; on the iconography and meaning of com­
position of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream in Dečani
Monas­tery­(1347/1348) see: Vesna Milanović,
­«Starozavetne teme i Loza Jesejeva», in: Vojislav
J. Đurić/Gordana Babić (ed.), Zidno slikarstvo mana-
stira Dečana, Beograd 1995, pp. 218–219, fig. 3.
44 Miodrag Medić, Stari slikarski priručnici, vol. II,
vol. III, Beograd 2005, pp. 222–223. 
45 On the iconography of the Ἄνωθεν οἱ προφη̃ται in
the wall painting see: Vesna Milanović, «Proroci su
te nagovestili u Peći», in: Tatić-Djurić, Bogorodica
u delu arhiepiskopa Danila II, op. cit. (note 13),
pp. 409–423.
46 Svetozar Radojčić, «Epizoda o Bogorodici-Gori u
Teodosijevom “Životu sv. Save” i njena veza sa sli­
karstvom XII i XIV veka», in: Tekstovi i freske, id.
(ed.), Novi Sad 1965, pp. 114–127.
Serbia described Sava’s vision. Cf. Teodosije, Žitije
svetog Save, op. cit. (note 2), pp. 130–131 (transl. by
Anja Marić).

Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević.  The Holy Mountain in Byzantine visual culture of medieval Balkans 253
 Ill. 5: Mount Athos, Pars
Occidentalis S. Montis,
engraved by Alessandro della
Via, copper engraving, Venice
(?) 1713, the Monastery of
Vatopedi, in: Dinko Davidov,
Svetogorska grafika, Beograd
2004, pp. 60 and 192
Ill. 7: All Saints of Mount
Ill. 6: Mount Athos, Pars Athos, engraved by Averikije
Orientalis S. Montis, engraved and Michael, monks from
by Alessandro della Via, Mount Athos, copper
copper engraving, Venice (?) engraving, 1866, the
1713, the Monastery of Monastery Kutlumus, in:
Vatopedi, in: Dinko Davidov, Dinko Davidov, Svetogorska
Svetogorska grafika, Beograd grafika, Beograd 2004, p. 75
2004, pp. 60 and 193 and 222

254
es», and that the earth was consecrated by her sojourn on Athos. Medieval Christians be­
lieved in the very presence of the Mother of God on Athos, which was confirmed by her rel­
ics, icons and souvenirs. Describing her stay and the presence of her icon in the church of
Great Lavra, the Serbian monk and hagiographer Domentian wrote: «And the holy tears
wetted the holy earth on which the pure Mother of God herself walked in holy steps.» In the
texts of medieval Serbian writers «The Holy Mother – The Holy Mount» was a very fre­
quent motif. Domentian attests that: «Mountain of the Mother of God – the dwelling place
of God, declared by the prophets as the Holy Mountain, pure and shady, genuine Mother of
God.»48
The sacred structure of the Holy Mount Athos consists of monasteries, monastic cells,
hermitages, dwellings and the Holy Peak of Athos. (ill. 5, 6 and 7) A complex sacred topog­
raphy has been created on the entire monastic property, and sacred territories of all monas­
teries are linked by the vertical principle of holiness with a dominant Holy Peak.

Treskavac monastery (monastQrq tryskavqcq)

In the central Balkans, one of the most representative examples of the formation of the sa­
cred topography of the Holy Mountains is a cult place of the Mother of God, Treskavac mo­
nastery, near Prilep. (ill. 8) Due to its vertical structure, the sacred topography transferred to
Treskavac resembles the model of the Holy Mounts of Sinai and Athos. This connection is
established in written sources – as in the chrysobulls of King Dušan to the monastery.49 In
the chrysobulls to the monastery Treskavac, King Dušan clearly compares Treskavac to Sinai
and Athos:

«And then there is a well-known monastery of the Holy Mother of

God called Treskavac, which is adorned not only by its edifice and
external decorations, but also by the laws and constitution of the holy
fathers who live there. If someone were to extol the monastic life on
Mount Sinai or the Holy Mount of Athos, no less should he praise the
life and constitution of the monks who reside here.»50

48 Domentijan, Životi svetog Save, op. cit. (note 35),
p. 118 (transl. by Anja Marić).
49 On the sacred topography of the Treskavac Monas­
tery and the cult of the Treskavac Mother of God:
Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević, «Sakralna topografija
manastira Treskavca», in: Balcanica 35 (2004),
pp. 289–293; id., Manastir Treskavac, Beograd 2013,
(Wall painting of the Treskavac monastery), MA thesis,
Belgrade 2006. On the creation and transmission of
different forms of holiness, and different forms and
functions of creating holy space and time: Alexei
M. Lidov, «Hierotopy. The Creation of Sacred
Spaces as a Form of Creativity and Subject of Cul­
tural History», in: Hierotopy, The creation of sacred
spaces, id. (ed.), Moscow 2006, pp. 32–48. On the
models of dispersion of the holy space according to
the principle translation Hierosloymi in: New Jerusa-
lems, The Translation of Sacred Spaces in Christian
Culture, id. (ed.), Moscow 2009.
50 Cf. Treskavac, charter I, 1, in: Spomenici za sredne-
vekovnata i ponovata istorija na Makedonija, IV, Vladi­
mir Mošin (ed.), Skopje 1981, pp. 77–78: «idi\e
Estq monastQr prysvetqE bogorodice ]\e glago-
lEmoE mysto tryskavqcq, ne toliko zdaniEmq i
vqny[qnimq oustroEnq, Eliko Estq zakonomq i
oustavomq svetQhq wtqcq \ivou{ih, vq nemq
pryoukra[enq i pryproslavqnq. A{e bo kqto poh-
valitq \itiF inokomq \ivou{imq vq Sinaiscyi
gory ili vq gory Svetyi aTonqscyi, da pohvalitq
\e i sihq \itiF i oustavq ne houdq[e.» (transl. by
Anja Marić).

Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević.  The Holy Mountain in Byzantine visual culture of medieval Balkans 255
The structure of the Athos model influenced Treskavac in various ways: the cult of the Ill. 8: The Monastery
Treskavac and the Holy Peak
Moth­er of God, the monastic lifestyle, and visually, by forming a sacred topography accord­
Zlatovrh, Prilep, Macedonia,
ing to the vertical principle of the holiness of the place. At Treskavac not only is the cult of 2006 (photo Svetlana
the Mother of God and specifically the regional miracle-worker, the Holy Mother of Tres­ Smolčić-Makuljević)
kavac, preserved; but it is also believed that her «steps» can be heard in monastic quarters
even today. Written and archaeological sources also reveal that anchoretic as well as cenobitic­
life blossomed at this mountain monastery. From the middle Byzantine period, cenobitic life
has been affirmed in the established monastery with catholicon and refectory, and there are
material remains of anchoretic life of «the guardians of the Golden Peak» such as cave
­par­ekklesion, hermitages and many holy and cultic springs, other monastic dwellings, gar­
dens and orchards.51 The vertical sacred topography of Treskavac monastery is unified by the
Holy Summit – the Golden Peak, with its golden cross, which is the final destination of mo­
nastic pilgrimage.

256
III  The Holy Peak

As the goal of spiritual and physical ascension, the Holy Peak represents the most important
and symbolic space in the sacred topography of the Holy Mountain. Since the earliest time,
it has been the place of permanent theophany. In Christian culture, the Holy Peak is a place
of memory for the meeting between God and Moses, Christ’s prayer on the Mount of Olives
and Christ’s Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.
Throughout history, the peaks of Christian Holy Mountains have often been former
places of ancient oracles. On the holy Mount Sinai, on the peak of the holy Mount Athos, on
Zlatovrh which is an integral part of the sacred topography of the Monastery Treskavac, the
existence of material traces of pre-Christian cultures was established.52 Therefore the p­ rocess
of Christian sacralization started from the top. The sacralization of the Holy Peak involved
placing crosses and chapels at the summit, such as the chapel on Mount Horeb, ­par­ekklesion
dedicated to Transfiguration on Athos, or the cross placed at Zlatovrh near Treskavac.53 Ar­
cheological finds as well as pilgrims’ notes further testify to the visual mapping of this space.
The Holy Peak was not inhabited by monks at all times, but it was a place where some
would spend periods of time. A stay on a Holy Peak was a great feat; it was the place dedicat­
ed to divine service and was visually marked.54 There was a twofold sacralization of the peak,
through visual and material culture and liturgical prayer at this place by priests, monks,
those­seeking God and pilgrims.
According to historical sources, in the period before Emperor Justinian (527–565), there
was a small church at the holy summit of Mount Sinai. (ill. 9) The theologian and Bishop of
Cyrrhus, Theodoret (393–457)55 provides information that it was most likely built by the
first pilgrim Julianos Saba. The notes made by the pilgrim Anonymous of Placentia (or Pia­
cenza), who stayed at this holy place around 560, testify to the existence of the small church
at the top of Mount Sinai and to its dimensions of roughly six Roman feet at each side (1.8 m
x 1.8 m).56 The Pilgrim Egeria records that this church was «ecclesia non grandis»,57 and Pe­
ter Grossmann supposes it was a small chapel with only a small apse or niche in the eastern
wall.

51 Smolčić-Makuljević, Sakralna topografija manastira 56 Grossmann, Besuche und Überfälle am Mosesberg,

Treskavca, op. cit. (note 49), pp. 299–313. op. cit. (note 15), pp. 455–457.
52 Cf. Kalopissi-Verti/Panayotidi, Excavations on the 57 Egeria, Itinerarium, Röwekamp, op. cit. (note 19),
Holy Summit, op. cit. (note 8), p. 75; Smolčić- 3. 3, p. 126: «In eo ergo loco est nunc ecclesia non
Makuljević, Sakralna topografija manastira Treskav­ grandis, …» and Egeria’s travels, Wilkinson, op. cit.
ca, op. cit. (note 49), p. 307. (note 18), p. 109: «The church which is now there
53 Smolčić-Makuljević, Sakralna topografija manastira is not impressive for its size (there is too little room
Treskavca, op. cit. (note 49), p. 289, with old on the summit), but it has a grace all its own.»
bib­liography.
54 Grossmann, Besuche und Überfälle in der vorjusti­
nianischen Laura am Mosesberg, op. cit. (note 15),
pp. 455–465.
55 Cf. id., pp. 455–456, n. 2, 3; Chryssavgis, John Cli­
macus, op. cit. (note 23), p. 2, n. 4; Ephraim Syrus,
«Hymni de Juliano Saba et Theodoret», in: Historia
Religiosa, II PG 82.1316.

Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević.  The Holy Mountain in Byzantine visual culture of medieval Balkans 257
 During the reign of Emperor Justinian, the small chapel of Julianos Saba was trans­ Ill. 9: The Chapel of Holy
Trinity on the Holy Peak
formed into a three-naved basilica, to which a rich archeological evidence testifies.58 The ar­
Sinai, 2007 (photo Sebastian
cheological material connects this basilica with the church of the Mother of God at the foot Schwertner, Erlangen)
of Mount Sinai from the time of Justinian.59 It has not been determined when the basilica
from Justinianic times was destroyed, but as a testament to it there is a small mosque which
was built during the 11th or 12th century by using the material from the older early-Christian
construction.60 The current chapel at the peak of Mount Sinai was reconstructed in the 20th
century (1934?) using old red granite blocks from the Justinian’s church.61 The church is a
small single nave construction, domed with a double-pitch roof, dedicated to the Holy Trin­
ity. The western wall contains a biphora, or double lancet window. The small pillar in the
middle of the biphora window has a spiral shape, and the western facade was modeled on the
western facade of the catholicon of Saint Catherine monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Holy Peaks are also places where new visions and miracles occur. In Byzantine culture,
memories are evoked by repeating rituals, monastic prayers and pilgrimages. An indication
that the Holy Peak of the Holy Mountain was a place of feat is the stay of Saint Simeon Sty­
lites (390–459), who spent a whole week awake at the peak of Mount Sinai praying.62 The
peak itself is not inhabited by monks, but it is rather a place to visit and from which the
prayers­ascend. The monks themselves lived in their cells around the Holy Peak. As the
­pilgrim Egeria noted in the 4th century: «All there is on the actual summit of the central
mountain is the church and the cave of holy Moses. No one lives there.» (Ex 33, 22)63 For

258
Pro­copius of Caesarea (500–565) also life on the summit of the mountain is not possible:
«For it is impossible for a human to spend a night on the peak, since constant crashes of
thunder and other terrifying manifestations of divine power are heard at night, striking ter­
ror into a man’s body and soul.»64
Just as the dome in Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture symbolizes «heaven above heav­
ens», similarly the Holy Peak in the symbolic topography of the Holy Mountain stands for
«a visible place which is the best guide to the invisible Mountain».65 Staying at the Holy
Peak entails a certain religious behaviour, as a testimony of «the love of God and purity». In
the Life of the Serbian Saint Sava (written before 1295), the medieval Serbian writer and
monk of the Chilandari Monastery Theodosius states that the asceticism on the Holy Peak
was important in the anchoretic life of medieval Eastern Christianity. He describes Saint
Sava’s departure to the Holy Peak of Sinai: «And after he had had a rest at the monastery, he
climbed to the Holy Peak to genuflect to the place where God came down many times and
spoke to Moses.»66
The Life of the Serbian Saint Sava also indicates that divine services were held on the
Holy Peak, which is also testified by Egeria in the Early Christian period. As stated by Theo­
dosius: «Having spent the whole holy fortieth in the monastery, fasting with brethren, he
went to the Holy Peak every Saturday and performed the all-night standing there on Sun­
days with poems and prayers.»67

58 On the plan of the first early Christian church and
the church from the period of Justinian on Moses
Mount, cf. Peter Grossmann, «Architecture», in:
Manafis, Sinai, treasures of the Monastery of Saint
Catherine, op. cit. (note 6), pp. 37–39, drawing 4;
Kalopissi-Verti/Panayotidi, Excavations on the
Holy Summit, op. cit. (note 8), pp. 81–92, pl. 1, 2.
59 Cf. Peter Grossmann, «Architecture», in: Manafis,
Sinai, treasures of the Monastery of Saint Cather­
ine, op. cit. (note 6), pp. 37–39, drawing 4; John
­Galey, Das Katharinenkloster auf dem Sinai, Stuttgart
2010, p. 84.
60 Sinai is also an important pilgrimage site for Islam,
since Moses is reputed as a significant prophet in
­Islam. The mosque on the peak belongs to the
group of six mosques which are mentioned in the
early 12th century Arabic inscription which is kept
in the Monastery of Saint Catherine. Cf. Kalopissi-
Verti/Panayotidi, Excavations on the Holy Summit,
op. cit. (note 8), p. 83.
61 Compare the appearance of the western facade of
the church from Saint Catherine Monastery, in:
­Manafis, Sinai, treasures of the Monastery of Saint
Catherine, op. cit. (note 6), p. 48, fig. 10.
62 Cf. Theodoret, Historia Religiosa, VI; Grossmann,
Besuche und Überfälle am Mosesberg, op. cit. (note
15), pp. 456–457.
63 Egeria, Itinerarium, Röwekamp, op. cit. (note 19),
3. 5, p. 128 and Egeria’s travels, Wilkinson, op. cit.
(note 18), p. 109.
64 Cf. «Procopius of Caesarea, On Buildings [De Aedi-
ficiis], V. viii. 1–9», 7., in: History and Hagiography
from the Late Antique Sinai, Daniel F. Caner (ed.),
­Liverpool 2010, «Appendix II. Sinai Defences, 7.»,
p. 276.
65 On the symbolism of the Dome as «heaven above
heavens», in early Christian and Byzantine architec­
ture see: Oskar Wulff, «Das Raumerlebnis des Naos
im Spiegel der Ekphrasis», in: Byzantinische Zeit-
schrift (BZ) 30 (1929–1930), pp. 535–536; Baldwin
Smith, The Dome. A Study in the History of Ideas,
Princeton 1950, pp. 79–80; Kathleen E. McVey,
«The domed churches as Microcosm. Literary
roots of an architectural symbol», in: DOP (1983),
pp. 81–121; Gordana Babić, Kraljeva crkva u Stude-
nici, Beograd 1988, pp. 35 and 69, with older litera­
ture. On the symbolic meaning of Saint Mount in
the writing of Saint John Climacus see: Johannes
vom Sinai, Klimax oder die Himmelsleiter, op. cit.
(note 23). 
66 Teodosije, Žitije svetog Save, op. cit. (note 2),
p. 183.
67 Ibid.

Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević.  The Holy Mountain in Byzantine visual culture of medieval Balkans 259
 Saint Sava also visited the Holy Peak of Athos, coming from Vatopedi Monastery: «From
there he climbed to the long-desired Athos, where he genuflected and stood through the
night, and uttered many prayers from the bottom of his heart and when he sufficiently be­
stowed the Holy Peak with joyous and warm tears, which spoke to the Lord, he was granted
ascension.»68 The same religious conduct was revealed on Saint Sava’s visit to the Holy Peak
of Mount Tabor: «From there he came to the Holy Mountain Tabor, and in the church he
bestowed the holy place and the top of the Holy Mountain with warm tears, where Christ
revealed to his disciples the glory of his divinity through transfiguration.»69
The accounts of Vasily Grigorovich Barsky provide a good example of pilgrims’ practice
in the 18th century and also bear witness to monastic life and the monks’ treatment of the
Holy Mountain. He talks of his own experience and notes the practice of climbing to the top
of the Holy Mountain. (ill. 10) Describing the route that leads to the peak of Athos from the
Great Lavra, Barsky notes:

«Here the route spreads to the very top of Athos, and there is no other
way. It takes about three hours to climb to the top. In the first hour
one can reach the spring, the well, which stands near the road and all
passers-by drink from it; in the second hour one might come to the
temple of the Mother of God, and in the third to the very top of the
mountain, where there are no trees, just plain rocks, strong wind,
snow and thick fog. There is an icon preserved in the church of the
Mother of God, of which many monks from Lavra testify that had
belonged to the chapel of Transfiguration from the peak of the Holy
Mountain, but that it had been carried down due to great storms
which damaged it. The monks told me they used to go together to
genuflect at the top of the Holy Mountain. At the very top there is a
small church, built from plain rock and erected in honor of
Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ.»70

In visual memory and culture, pilgrims’ paper icons have portrayed the Holy Mountains
with their sacred topography beginning from the 15th century. These unique praying «sou­
venirs» for pilgrims and the faithful throughout the Eastern Christian world reveal the
places which are recalled with nostalgia by all pilgrims. Among the crucial sacred places of
the Holy Mountain, the peak is also specially emphasized. The Holy Peak was visually em­
phasized in both painted and paper icons with topographic images of Mount Sinai. The peak
of Sinai is always represented on the paper pilgrimage icons by Moses receiving the Tables
of the Law.71 At the top of Athos a chapel has been drawn, dedicated to the Transfiguration.72
Sinai is known to have inspired the Cretan artist El Greco, who emphasized the Holy Peak
of Moses Mount in his picture View of Mount Sinai and the Monastery of Saint Catherine
(c. 1570) and thus indicated its importance through the language of symbolic landscape of
his time.73
Holy Mountains in the Eastern Christian culture followed the topographic structure de­
fined by the hierarchical vertical principle, above – below.

260
 In Byzantine visual culture and the medieval Balkans, Holy Mountains were places of
rem­iniscence of important events of biblical history. These places are inhabited by monks
and anchorets who live according to monastic rules. The basic model of the Christian topog­
raphy of Holy Mountains was established in Sinai; it was then transferred to the monastic Ill. 10: The Chapel of
Transfiguration on the Holy
Mount Athos, as well as to more regional Holy Mountains such as the Holy Mountain of
Peak of Mount Athos,
Treskavac. The sacred peak in the sacred topography of these mountains dominates the postcard, ca 1930 (archive
space, bearing complex symbolic meanings and providing believers with a point of connec­ Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević)
tion between the divine and the earthly.

68 Id., p.  23. 73 Manafis, Sinai, treasures of the Monastery of Saint

69 Id., pp.  161–162. Catherine, op. cit. (note 6), pp. 9–10; Christina
70 Вaсилий Григорович Барский, Мандри по святих Stancioiu, «On the Painted Ancestry of Domenikos
місцях сходу з 1723 по 1747 рик, Киïв 2000, Theotokopoulos’s Sacred Landscapes of Mount
pp. 488–491 (transl. by Anja Marić). ­Sinai and the Monastery of St Catherine», in:
71 Dorē Papastratos, Chartines eikones, orthodoxa ­Approaching the Holy Mountain, art and liturgy at
thrēskeutika charaktika 1665–1899, II, Athenes 1986, St Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai, ed. by Sharon
fig. 380, 381, 383, 385, 387, 388, 391.  E. J. Gerstel, Turnhout: Brepols 2010, pp. 537–562.
72 Id., fig. 420, 421, 422, 423, 461, 492. 

Svetlana Smolčić-Makuljević.  The Holy Mountain in Byzantine visual culture of medieval Balkans 261
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