St. Nicholas Church: An Albanian Orthodox Church in Shelcan
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.8
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Albania
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Ottoman
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page4 sections
History
St. Nicholas Church is an Albanian Orthodox church in Shelcan, Albania, built during the sixteenth century and generally dated to the late sixteenth century on the basis of its construction technique. Its protected status reflects its place within Albania’s cultural heritage, and the church is also associated with frescoes by Onufri, a major sixteenth-century Albanian painter known especially for religious frescoes and icons.
The church became a Cultural Monument of Albania in 1948, and its protected cultural-heritage status was recorded again in 1971. It is listed under reference EL054 and is administered by the Durrës Regional Directorate of Cultural Heritage. The roof underwent restoration in 1969.
Remains
Plan and interior
The building has a single-nave plan, meaning that its main worship space consists of one longitudinal interior area. Later porches extend along the south and west sides, while the naos, the principal worship space of an Orthodox church, can be entered from both the west and south. The interior is completely covered with frescoes by Onufri, giving the surviving church its defining painted character.
Masonry and roof
The walls are made from irregular stone slabs arranged with horizontal courses of two or three rows of bricks. This combination of materials and construction helps support the proposed late-sixteenth-century date. Above the church is a trussed roof without a ceiling, which was restored in 1969.
