Конзерваторско-реставраторски работи на објект Стоа, на археолошкиот локалитет Вардарски Рид – Гевгелија

Studies in the Antiquities of Stobi volume 4, 2018

Arheoloski Informator, 2017

Special Edition, 2016

The results of the archaeological research (until 2016) in the sity of Gradishte -Knezje, near Sveti Nikole

Patrimonium.MK 18, 2020

The article is dedicated to two, in nowadays completely destroyed Byzantine inscriptions that were presented in the works of five authors from the 19th century. Based on their descriptions, the inscriptions were located on one of the towers i.e. gates of the acropolis of the medieval town of Skopje, located on the hill "Kale", in the center of today's city of Skopje. Presented in the introductory part is brief information about the previous archaeological excavations of this site and the main titles under which they are published. This is followed by an overview of the other hitherto known medieval inscriptions (Byzantine and Old Slavic) discovered, or only recorded, in Skopje's "Upper Town" and its immediate surroundings. Further undertaken is a detailed presentation of the contents of the passages from the five publications which mention the inscriptions that are the subject of this study. They are: J. G. von Hahn, F. Kenner, A. Evans, M. G. Dimitsa and P. N. Miljukov. Judging by their descriptions and the drawing published by the last-mentioned of the authors, the lower inscription was preserved much better than the upper one. It was carved into several large square stone blocks of which the building was built, while completely illegible fragments of the second one were executed on bricks placed vertically on its facade. According to the two readings of the lower inscription performed first by P. N. Miljukov, and more recently by А. Rhoby, its ktetoric and panegyric character is evident, praising the erection of the "new town" by a Byzantine ktetor whose name has not been preserved. Based on the comparative analysis of the statements made by the mentioned authors, proposed and examined in the article are several hypotheses about the exact character of the building onto which the two inscriptions were placed (a tower that at the same time served as a gate), as well as its location within the Skopje Acropolis. Based on the obtained results, it is concluded that it was a gate-tower (probably the main one within the "Upper Town") located in the middle of the inner northeastern rampart (today known as "Cyclopean"), just behind the currently preserved eastern gate of the outer rampart from the Ottoman period. Then arguments are made that in pre-Ottoman times, on this part of the inner rampart there must have been a gate as the most logical communication between the acropolis and the main (eastern) suburb of medieval Skopje (today's Old Bazaar). Also presented are facts about the fortification of part of this suburb with a rampart and towers, in which one might also seek the reason for the relatively good preservation of the "Cyclopean wall" i.e. the most solid phase of the fortress, regardless of its extent on a relatively flat terrain that seems to have been more accessible to the blows of siege machines. While searching for the exact location of this, nowadays completely destroyed gate-tower, also reconstructed is the time during which the destruction of the part of the wall where it was located had taken place. Based on the preserved photographs, an assumption is made that this certainly happened after the visit of Miljukov (1898) and gradually until the middle of the second decade of the 20th century. A reason is sought in this why these inscriptions are completely absent in the publications about the fortress published from the beginning of the last century until the newest ones, issued last year. Based on the existing assumptions about the dating of the lower inscription (end of XI and XII century) and of the "Cyclopean wall" on which it was located, also discussed are the possible relations between the construction campaign that it represented and the phases of building and renovation of the fortification elements of Skopje's "Upper Town". In that context, assessed once again is the probability of both theories regarding the main construction phase of the "Cyclopean wall" – the "Justinian" one, according to which it would originate from the VI century CE, and the "Komnenian" one – from the end of the XI and XII century. Within that framework, the unjustifiably marginalized arguments that support the first hypothesis are summarized, namely: the numerous spolia from the Roman town of Scupi, the triangular towers and the indented gate, for which there are reliable analogies even in the Skopje valley. In regards to this, the current absence of a large number of finds and integral archaeological layers from this period is sought on two sides. The first reason for this would be the eventual abandonment of the building (civilian or military) soon after its inhabiting, and possibly before its full completion, while on the other – the destruction of these finds and layers during the following extensive construction interventions in the fortress. At the end, two possible options are proposed on the relationship of the inscriptions presented here with the structure onto which they were located. According to the first one, the main phase of the "Cyclopean wall" would have originated in the Komnenian period, after the completion of which, engraved onto its main gate-tower was the lower inscription that glorifies this construction campaign. According to the second one, this inscription would have been secondarily carved into the blocks of the gate-tower built before that, in the early Byzantine period, in honor of the great renovation of that wall executed at the end of the XI and XII century. The placement of the other (completely illegible) inscription above the previous one, as well as its execution into a different material, in both options would indicate its more recent date, most likely as a sign of some renovation that followed after the one immortalized in the first inscription. Апстракт: Во статијата се претставени два денес загубени византиски натписи кои се презентирани во трудовите на петмина автори од XIX век. Се наоѓале на една кулa т.е. портa од акрополата на средновековиот град Скопје. Според цртежот публикуван кај едниот од авторите, долниот натпис бил издлабен на квадерните камени блокови од кои таа била изградена, додека сосема нечитливите фрагменти од вториот биле изведени на тули вградени во нејзината фасада. Врз основа на двете досегапредложени читања на долниот натпис, станувало збор за ктиторски натпис во кој се воспејува подигањето на „новиот град“ од страна на византиски ктитор чие име не е зачувано. Врз основа на исказите на петте автори, се прави обид за точно определување на карактерот на објектот на кој биле поставени натписите (кула која воедно служела и како порта, денес целосно урната), како и неговата локација во рамки на скопскиот „Горни Град“ (на средината од внатрешниот североисточен „киклопски“ бедем). Врз основа на предложените датации на долниот натпис (крај на XI и XII век) и на бедемот на кој се наоѓал, се разгледуваат можните релации меѓу градежната кампања што тој ја воспејувал и фазите на градење и обновување на скопската тврдина. Во тој контекст се проценува уште еднаш веројатноста на двете теории за главната градежна фаза на „киклопскиот ѕид“ – „Јустинијановската“, според која таа би потекнувала од VI век н.е. и „Комненовската“ – од крајот на XI и XII век н.е. Клучни зборови: византиска епиграфика, средновековно Скопје, Скопско Кале, средновековни тврдини, Јустинијана Прима, Јустинијан, Комнени