From September 3 to September 7, the Holy Bigorski Monastery hosted the Third Minor Rekan Scientific Conference titled “Following the Paths of Dicho Zograf”, held with the blessing of our competent Metropolitan Mr. Timotej of Debar-Kičevo and the blessing and initiative of our Elder and Abbot, Bishop Mr. Partenij, in collaboration and organization with Prof. Dr. Sašo Cvetkovski. This year’s conference commemorated the 170th anniversary of the fresco painting of the monastery church “St. George the Victorious” in Rajčica.
The ceremonial opening of this scholarly gathering took place on September 3 in the courtyard of the church “St. Peter and Paul”, in the village of Tresonče, the birthplace of Dicho Zograf. Greetings were delivered by Prof. Dr. Sašo Cvetkovski, the scientific director of the school, Prof. Dr. Nenad Makuljević from the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, and Medat Kurtovski, the mayor of the Municipality of Mavrovo and Rostuše. The event was attended by researchers, students, and members of the Tresonče association “Brzovec”. A Trisagion prayer was served by a hieromonk from our brotherhood for the repose of the soul of the giant Dimitar – Dicho Krstev, our most famous painter from the nineteenth-century Renaissance period.
In the following days, several scientific sessions were held, featuring presentations by several notable names in the field of art history and architecture: Sašo Cvetkovski, Elizabeta Kasapova, Nenad Makuljević from the University of Belgrade, Ana Kostić, Vasil Gjorgjiev-Likin, Aleksandar Vasilevski, Boris Markovski, Sašo Popovski, Darko Nikolovski.
The scientific gathering concluded today, when, with the blessing of the Elder and Abbot of our Monastery, Bishop Partenij, our brother Archimandrite Dositej awarded special certificates to the participants as a token of gratitude for their participation. On behalf of the Bishop, he warmly thanked the researchers for their significant contributions to shedding light on the history of the Bigorski Monastery and the Rekan region in general, through scientific conferences where they present their findings.
Finally, all participants of the Third Minor Rekan Scientific Conference visited the Bigorski Monastery’s library.
