SKOPSKA CRNA GORA, SKOPJE

Skopska Crna Gora – a medium-high mountain in the northern part of Macedonia. It rises between the Skopje Valley to the south, the Kumanovo Valley to the east, the Gnjilane Valley to the north (in Kosovo) and the Lepenec River valley to the west. The mountain stretches in the direction SW-SI, with the highest peak Ramno (1,651 m). With the valley of the Lipkovska River it is divided into two parts: the western higher and the eastern lower, known as Karadak. There are springs on a number of river flows in Skopska Crna Gora. The whole area around the mountain is sometimes called Montenegro and is very rich in churches and monasteries.
Тhe monastery of St. Ilija Banjani was the first high school for theology in the territory of Macedonia.
History
The period from when this area is called by its current name or name by which it is named is not known, but it is considered that it was first mentioned in the XIII century when the Bulgarian Tsar Konstantin Assen left the villages in his end, then Montenegro is mentioned again in 1300, in the charter of King Milutin in the church of St. George in Skopje. In the XV century Montenegro is mentioned in the biography of the despot Stefan Konstantin Philosopher. After the conquest of Skopje, the Turks translated the name from Montenegro into the name of Kara-Dag, and this term can still be used to this day.
The monastery was built as a small church in the period between 1695 and 1705 by the monk Michael with the help and protection of Ago-beg of Veles. The year of the construction of the monastery is also confirmed by the bronze seal of the monastery (Orle), which does not exist as such a monastery anywhere, but in its content the name ``St. Archangel Michael`` and the image of Archangel Michael is included. The year 1705 is also engraved around the handle of the seal. The master of the seal was Simon Kostadinov, who is also the writer of the inscription.
In the second half of the 19th century, the old monastery church was restored, renovated and painted by the painter Hadji Krste in 1861, and thus got its present shape and appearance. Then the monastery got a new domed church, lights and a big high bell tower next to it.
Today, in the Museum of Macedonia in Skopje there is a larger group of fragments of fresco painting from the middle 15th century which originates from this monastery. Тhe representations of three bishops painted in medallions аре from the altar space of the former church. The first among them is the great wonderworker Saint Spyridon, Bishop of Cypriot Trimythous; next to him is painted a bishop whose signature has completely disappeared, and in the third medallion St. Methodius is painted. From the same church, from the part around the altar partition, come the representations of the highly respected bishop of Christ, St. Nicholas and the figure of the famous monk, the founder of Egyptian monasticism - St. Antony.
The church ``St. Archangel Michael`` is the main monastery church. It was built in 1861 by Andreja Damjanov, one of the greatest builders of sacred buildings in the Balkans. In 1981, the church was declared a monument of culture, while in 2013 a decision was made to completely rehabilitate the building and the icons, which were damaged by the barbaric behavior of the newly arrived residents, after the departure of the Turkish population, in the village of Vodovrati.