LATE BYZANTINE PERIOD ARCHITECTURE

LATE BYZANTINE PERIOD
ARCHITECTURE

In these warring times, building activities were oriented towards the erection of fortifications in the border areas, particularly during the reign of Manuel I Comnenus, who came several times to Niš due to military operations. This was registered by Nicetas Honiatus. He described the Byzantine activities in the restoration of cities after the fall of Zemun in 1165, having said explicitly that they "encircled the city of Niš with ramparts". If any of sacral objects had been erected at all in that period, it must have been inside the city ramparts, which provided certain protection.

Stephan Nemanja, the great builder and renovator of churches, whose statesman's interests were followed by the ecclesiastical politics, had to restore or completely construct some of the temples in Niš, as it was a strong religious center with many churches. However, his building activities are now known only for the temple of St. Panteleimon, owing to Stephan the First Crowned.

Serbia in the period of Stephan Nemanja and Stephan the First Crowned

None of the sacral structures in Niš and its surroundings may be dated to the 12th century for sure.

The knowledge of the building activities in the 14th century is reduced to the reconstruction of the Church of St. John in Orljane.