OAJ Tour of Georgia Led by Andrew Gould

After a fantastic tour of the Balkans last June, the Orthodox Arts Journal is sponsoring a second art and architecture package tour. This tour will last 2 weeks, and will visit all the key sites for medieval architecture, frescoes, and liturgical art in the Republic of Georgia. It will begin in Tbilisi on June 3rd,…

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Iconostases in Balkan Churches – Part 2: Dečani Monastery

The iconostases of Dečani Monastery are of such overwhelming interest that they warrant their own post in my photojournalism series. Dečani was built in 1327-1331. Among the hundreds of monasteries built by the medieval kingdom of Serbia, it was the tallest and grandest. Today, it is also, miraculously, the best preserved, with an extraordinary collection…

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Iconostases in Balkan Churches – Part 1: Serbia

Continuing my photojournalism series highlighting Balkan churches, this post features interesting iconostases I photographed in Serbia and in the Kosovo and Metohija region. These iconostases range from medieval to contemporary, and exhibit a remarkable range of styles. I find it fascinating to view them grouped together, and consider that there are such diverse solutions to…

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Portraits of Light and Shadow in Balkan Churches – Part 2: Peć, Gračanica, and Dečani

Continuing my photojournalism series highlighting Balkan churches, this post will feature wide-angle interior portraits of the three great monastery churches of the Kosovo and Metohija region. Peć, Gračanica, and Dečani are monuments of unequalled importance, astonishing for their architecture and frescoes, and for their incredible state of preservation in this most embattled region. Because few…

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OAJ Tour of the Balkans Led by Andrew Gould

The Orthodox Arts Journal is sponsoring its first-ever art and architecture package tour, which will take place in the Balkans. This tour will last 2 weeks, and will visit all the key sites for medieval architecture, frescoes, and liturgical art in Serbia, Kosovo, and North Macedonia. It will begin in Belgrade on May, 30th, 2023,…

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Acoustical Considerations in Orthodox Church Design

As a designer of Orthodox churches, I am frequently asked whether a proposed church building will have good acoustics. Acoustics is a complex matter that cannot always be catagorized as simply “good” or “bad”. In order to shed some light on this topic, I am going to discuss the various acoustical characteristics encountered in churches,…

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