Saint Mary's Church in Cerckë, Leskovik

Saint Mary's Church is located in Cerckë near Leskovik, in Cologne. It is one of the oldest medieval monuments of our country, which preserves more monumental paintings in relatively good condition.
The century-old church of Saint Mary is 6.55 x 5.26 m in size, it is a chapel with a late roof. Apart from a door on the west side through which the church is entered, there are no windows. In the eastern wall, the apse is semi-cylindrical from the inside, with the altar table walled up. From the outside, it appears protruding in the form of a rectangular quadrangle bearing the date in Arabic numerals 1159, engraved on a walled stone. The eastern wall of the Church of Cercka also has a band of stones that are placed obliquely as a frame.
All sides of the interior walls of the church are decorated with paintings, most of which are preserved in good condition. Even in those damaged parts, the theme can be read, which gives the approximate dating of the church and the painting. Some of the scenes are: Dormition of Saint Mary, Crucifixion of Christ, Transfiguration (with Christ inside a mandrel), Stone, etc. With better plastic are the figures of two angels. In our country, in no other analogous scene from pre-Turkish times, we have not encountered two angels on the tomb of Christ.
Although in the old Byzantine style, in Cercka's painting, some figures have been achieved with a high artistic level, with lively looks, with a rich spiritual world and with pronounced individuality. It is thought that the painting of Cercka should coincide with the half of the 11th century and not later than the beginning of the 12th century. This is evidenced by the main inscription of the church that is kept above the gate, the paleography of the Gospel text that Saint Thanas holds in his hands, the paleography of the scrolls that the saints have and the paleography of the signatures of all the figures. The Church of Saint Mary remains to be visited as one of the medieval monuments with many values, which rises among the vineyards of the village of Cerckë, 3 km south of Leskovik.