Prehistory
The oldest archaeological finds in the region of Prespa date from the Neolithic period (6800-3200 BC), and come from both the Treni cave in Albania and (in
113
the case of some other, mostly stone tools used by fishermen) from the island of Golem Grad in the FYR of Macedonia.
In the Albanian part of Prespa, excavations have revealed an important number of fortresses dating from the eleventh century BC on, and including the Shuec, Mokut, Vedrocu, Bilishti and Trajan fortresses.
Golem Grad Island in Greater Prespa Lake is an unusual and isolated site, far from communication links. It reveals a long chronology of human presence in the area from the first millennium BC until the Middle Ages. Apart from the Neolithic finds, ceramic vessels from the first half of the first millennium BC have also come to light with characteristics of the Iron Age. This would indicate that there was life on the is-land, or that attempts were at least made to inhabit it (Bitrakova-Grozdanova, 2007).
Fig. 2.24 The fortress of Suec in Albania, eleventh century BC.
Historical period
In the sixth century BC, the Prespa area was probably inhabited by nomadic peo-ple, the Dassaretae or Dexari, and possibly by Lyncestians or Triclarians about whom little is known. Geographically, Prespa belongs to the western borders of the land known as Lyncistis. Finds on Golem Grad also come from this period including defensive walls, a settlement, a necropolis, jewellery and coins.
From at least the early fifth century BC on, Prespa was under the influence of the Macedonian Kings. At the death of Philip II, it was part of his kingdom and was subsequently inherited by Alexander the Great. The information available about life in the area during the Hellenistic, Roman and early Christian periods is scanty and based on only a handful of finds. Significant excavations on the island of Aghios Achilleios in Lesser Prespa Lake revealed remnants of the city of Lyka.
114
Particularly notable are six ancient inscriptions, three of them mentioning the name Lyka for this ancient city, which date back to the second century BC. The excavations on the island have revealed rich and variable archaeological findings such as pieces of a sanctuary, Hellenistic and Roman inscriptions, tombstones and pottery shards of a kind that suggests a flourishing ancient society (Psara, 2001).
In the Early Christian period, the area belonged to the prefecture of Illiricum. In-dications of human habitation at this time are very limited, and there has been little archaeological exploration of the region.
The Byzantine period
In the Byzantine era, Prespa came under the administrative jurisdiction of the province of Macedonia II.
From the end of the ninth century AD, Prespa was in the zone of influence of the Bulgar leader, Simeon, who was for many years one of Byzantium’s most power-ful enemies, and the region was occupied by the Byzantines and Bulgars in turns.
It was the beginning of a very long and bloody war between Byzantium and the Bulgars, each of which was led by significant historical personalities: Samuel, Czar of the Bulgars, on the one side and the Byzantine emperor Basil II, on the other.
Around 980-985 AD, Samuel occupied Larissa and carried off the relics of the local saint, Aghios Achilleios, as well as a number of local workmen with their families and installed them in Prespa were he had his palace. The basilica of Aghios Achilleios, built on the island that bears his name, is one of the most im-portant monuments in the area. It was built in 986 AD by Samuel for the purpose of housing the remains of St. Achilleios. A three-aisled, wooden-roofed basilica, it is an example of an Early Christian church type surviving into the Byzantine pe-riod. The magnificent ruins of this basilica show it to have been one of the largest basilicas of the late tenth century (44.70 m x 22.00 m) (Moutsopoulos, 2003).
Even today, we can make out two layers of wall-painting on the bema apses;
eighteen arches painted in red belong to the older layer of frescoes, while the figures of military saints belong to the newer wall painting now on display in the Florina Archaeological Museum. A tomb covered with a sculpted limestone slab in the south of the church contains the remains of Aghios Achilleios. This slab, now also held in the Archaeological Museum of Florina, depicts an eagle or fal-con attacking a heron close to cedar trees, showing us that the flora and fauna of that time was similar to those we see in Prespa today.
Four other graves, most likely of important persons, are preserved in the southern aisle. One very significant object found in them is a fragment of silk fabric depicting a two-headed eagle with opposed heads. From coins found during excavations, it is believed that the site functioned as a place of worship until the fifteenth century.
The liberation of Prespa by Basil II in the early eleventh century AD encouraged the promotion of a strongly religious life. The distinctive character of the land-scape and the isolation of the region influenced the founding of many
monaster-115
ies, seemingly with the large basilica of Aghios Achilleios at their centre. Particu-larly representative examples of Byzantine architecture have been preserved throughout the Prespa region (Moutsopoulos, 2003).
Fig. 2.25 The church of Aghios Germanos in Greek Prespa, twelfth century AD.
The church of Aghios Germanos in the village of the same name dates from the early eleventh century AD. It is a cross-aisled church with a dome supported on four pi-lasters instead of the more usual columns. The form of this church is of special im-portance in Byzantine architecture, because it is the last example of the evolution of the combination of a fully developed form of the cross plan and the domed basilica.
Another important monument of this period is the church of Aghios Nikolaos out-side the village of Pyli on the western shore of Lesser Prespa Lake, which dates from the twelfth century AD. The inscribed trefoil-in-square church is a rare type which is found in monastic structures and in Constantinople. This type is based on oriental –especially Armenian– models, but in Greek lands has taken a Byzantine form. Also notable are the church of the Twelve Apostles on the island of Aghios Achilleios, and the church of Saint George in Kurbinovo in the FYR of Macedonia, which dates from the twelfth century. The single-spaced timber-roofed church of Saint George is decorated with murals which typify Byzantine painting during this period.
In the years that followed, the history of this remote corner of the Byzantine empire was marked by repeated occupations and re-occupations. From 1060 to 1085, it was rav-aged by Pechenegs, Bulgars, Normans and Alamans. From the thirteenth to the mid fif-teenthcentury, it was held by the Franks, incorporated into the Despotate of Epirus and controlled by the Serb chieftain Dusan and his descendants. The hermitage of Meta-morfosi on the rocky shore of Greater Prespa Lake is from this period, as is the church of Saint Peter on Golem Grad, one of the two islands in Greater Prespa Lake. Also on Mali Grad, the smaller island in Greater Prespa Lake, the remains of a single-aisled ba-silica with a dome in the interior of a large natural cave are dedicated to Theotokos, and date, according to the founders’ inscription, from the fourteenth century (1344/5).
116
Fig. 2.26 The church of Saint George of Kourbinovo in the FYR of Macedonia, twelfth century AD.
Post-Byzantine period: The Turkish occupation
The Byzantine empire started to collapse in the mid fourteenth century, and the area was occupied by the Ottoman Turks towards the end of the century, ushering in five centuries of Ottoman rule. However, because of its remoteness, Prespa and the re-gion around it remained under the control of local leaders such as the Dragasides.
The location of this area far from urban centres made Turkish rule lighter. This, as well as the extraordinary beauty of the place, attracted large numbers of Christian believ-ers in search of peace and tranquillity in which to worship their God far from the pres-sure of the Turkish presence. Between the fourteenth and nineteenth century, Prespa was filled with churches, monasteries, chapels and hermitages. Most of the hermitag-es and monasterihermitag-es were built during that period along the rocky shore of Greater Prespa Lake. The Analipsi hermitage and the larger Panagia Eleousa hermitage, which housed a large number of monks, date from the fifteenth century. The small church of the hermitage of Eleousa is covered with wall paintings which date from the fif-teenth century and were executed by the monk Ioannikios (Evyenidou at al., 1991).
Also important are two frescoes depicting the Virgin Mary on the rocks in the bay on Greater Prespa Lake close to the village of Psarades. The first one, from the fifteenth cen-tury, depicts the Virgin Mary Vlachernitissa with her arms held open, wearing a dark blue cloak with the little Jesus in front of her. In the second painting, the Virgin Mary is portrayed in the Eleousa form, unusually holding Jesus Christ on her right arm. Accord-ing to the inscription underneath the fresco, this one dates from the fourteenth century.
The inscription also mentions the Dragasides family, and it is known that the last Em-peror of Byzantium, Constantine XI Palaiologos, also bore the name Dragasis from his mother’s family. However, the relationship between him and the family is not clear.
117 Fig. 2.27 The hermitage of the Annunciation in Albanian Prespa, fourteenth century AD.
Two monasteries are also preserved on the northern shore of Greater Prespa Lake:
Saint Paraskevi at Brajicino, which dates from the sixteenth century, and the mon-astery of the Panagia at Slivnica, whose cruciform church was built and decorated in 1607. Finally, there are the ruins and the church of the monastery of Panagia Porfyra on the island of Aghios Achilleios in Lesser Prespa Lake. This monastery’s timber-roofed church contains paintings which date from the sixteenth century, but also layers of murals belonging to the mid eighteenth century.
Fig. 2.28 The monastery of Panagia Porfyra in Greek Prespa, sixteenth century AD.
118
The history of the Prespa region mirrors general developments in the Balkans as a whole, and acquired special importance at those times when circumstances created a need for its particular features. Thus, Samuel’s decision to make Prespa the capital of his kingdom, the efforts Basil II made to bring Prespa back into the Byzantine fold, the remoteness of the area that made it a religious sanctuary dur-ing Ottoman rule and the availability of abundant fresh water and land for culti-vation all played an important role in its history. Of course, the natural aura of the place also played its part –an aura which seems still to exert an influence to this day over the people who live in or visit the area. People are closely bound by myth, legend and tradition to the place and to its history and natural beauty.
References
Bitrakova-Grozdanova, V. (2007), Golem Grad in Prespa (From Orestians to Romans), Mace-donian Information Centre (MIC).
Catsadorakis, G. (1999), A Story for Man and Nature, The Society for the Protection of Prespa, Prespa.
Evyenidou D., Kanonidis I. and Papazotos Th. (1991), The Monuments of Prespa, Ministry of Culture – Archaeological Receipts Fund, Athens.
Moutsopoulos, N. K. (1971-1972), Excavation of the Basilica of Aghios Achilleios. Fourth period of works (1969), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Scientifi c Yearbook School of Engineer-ing (in Greek).
Moutsopoulos, N. K. (2003), Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments of Macedonia. Church-es of the Prefecture of Florina, Athens: Malliaris Publications (in Greek).
Municipality of Prespa (2007), Cultural Guide of the Municipality of Prespa.
Pelekanidis, S. (1960), Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments of Prespa, Society for Mace-donian Studies, Institution for Balkan Studies (in Greek).
Petkos, A. and Kissas, S. (2008), Byzantine Monuments in Prespa Wetland, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, 11th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Veroia.
Psara, I. (2001), The Archaeological Research of Ancient Lyka on Aghios Achilleios Island of Florina, Prehistoric and Classical Ephorate, Edessa (in Greek).
119
2.2 Cultural landscapes 2.2 Cultural landscapes
Ramsar guidance
The Ramsar Guidance on culture and wetlands (Papayannis and Pritchard, 2008) includes the following objective on cultural landscapes and the actions to attain it (Ramsar Guidance p. 48):
O.1.1 – O.1.1 –
To safeguard wetland-related cultural landscapes To safeguard wetland-related cultural landscapes
In order to achieve the long term conservation of wetland-related cul-tural landscapes:
a) proceed to identify and compile inventories of cultural landscapes, including information on their conservation status and the trends af-fecting them;
b) encourage official recognition at the national and international level of wetland-related cultural landscapes as part of the national and, where appropriate, international heritage, with a view to according them effective protection status;
c) promote the protection of such landscapes in policies that concern them directly or may affect them indirectly;
d) ensure that such landscapes are taken into account in territorial plan-ning and in the determination and control of land and water uses;
e) in the case of wetland-related cultural landscapes that still maintain some of the traditional activities that have formed them, as in the case of salinas (see also Objective O.2.6.1), promote economic and regulatory measures for stimulating those activities and ensuring their sustainability. Where this proves impossible, search for other means to maintain the beauty and functioning of these landscapes;
f) where environmentally appropriate and useful, promote the inclu-sion of wetland-related cultural landscapes in tourism promotion ac-tivities; and
g) for exceptionally significant sites, examine the feasibility of their nomination as World Heritage Cultural Landscapes.
From an analysis of the case studies, the discussions at the Prespa Workshop in 2009 and other related work, a number of conclusions can be drawn:
The first –very serious– conclusion is that, in regard to this objective, the Ramsar Guidance seems to disregard the dynamic nature of landscapes and their con-stant evolution due both to natural processes and to human actions; especially since human actions are changing rapidly and impacting significantly on
land-120
scapes (for example through the construction of large infrastructure projects), as well as having an indirect impact on natural processes (such as climate change).
It is therefore no longer generally feasible to ‘safeguard wetland landscapes’; in-stead, we have to attempt to maintain their values in a contemporary context.
On the other hand, certain landscapes host archaeological sites of major cultur-al, historic and scientific importance and may thus need to be strictly conserved in a specific form. Therefore, the protection of archaeological sites in a natural environment, which is quite effective in many Mediterranean countries, may of-ten need to be substantially exof-tended to cover the surrounding landscapes.
Another major point concerns the imperative need to better understand how human actions have transformed landscapes over time. It is known, for example, that agri-cultural improvements have created the intricate network of canals and strips of lands that is typical of large parts of the Neretva Delta (Papayannis, 2008). There is a need, however, to document how changes in agricultural practices have influenced this particular landscape type, and in turn to predict future developments. Similarly, it has been argued that in Prespa, traditional stockbreeding and cultivation activities have played a key role in the variety of landscapes and ecosystems in the area, and have thus contributed to its rich biodiversity (Kazoglou, 2010). A detailed under-standing of this cause and effect relationship would allow us to understand whether –and to what extent– changes in these traditional activities (mainly in the form of in-creased mechanisation and monoculture cultivations and a decrease in nomadic animal herding) will impact on Prespa’s landscapes. Taking additional factors into account (for instance, the projected impact of climate change and the already evi-dent spread of urbanisation), such an approach would allow measures to be designed that would better mitigate these changes and help maintain landscape values.
Case studies
A first paper in this section, by Med-INA associates Aphrodite Sorotou (archaeol-ogist) and Stefanos Dodouras (sustainability expert), deals with wetland land-scapes in the broader regional context. What makes Mediterranean wetland landscapes unique is the fact that, having served as the cradle of several of the world’s oldest civilisations, they have been arena for human interventions for thousands of years. As a result, they have faced a large number of threats, espe-cially in more recent years, and are in need of sustainable management. The au-thors analyse these threats and consider that a landscape-scale approach may prove helpful when evaluating the impact of human activities on the environ-ment, with sustainable development providing the key for a viable future.
The second author in this section is the writer Julian Hoffman, who was raised in Cana-da but has chosen to live in Greek Prespa. He takes us on a journey through both the most common and the less celebrated landscapes, as seen through the innocent eyes of a child. His refreshing look on the natural world takes us back to our childhood and re-minds us how children perceive and appreciate nature in even its most humble forms.
121