Macedonia prey to global racket in holy icon theft

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LAZAROPOLE, Macedonia (AP) — The sumptuous altar screen
in this village church rises in tiers of crimson, royal blue and gold
leaf, all the way up to a crucifix flanked by dragons. Near the top,
icon niches gape empty like blown-out windows.
The two dozen
paintings were torn out in April, apparent victims to an art theft
racket catering to rising international appetite for Orthodox religious
paintings — a market worth tens of millions of dollars.
Arse
Gligurovski, caretaker of the 19th-century church of St. George high in
the Macedonian massif, says that every time he looks at the desecrated
altar screen he feels as if "the robbers have ripped out and taken away
our souls."
Among the 30 icons stolen from the church in
Lazaropole, high in the Macedonian massif, were 23 by the 19th-century
Dico Zograf — one of the nation’s most famous painters. Zograf’s works
can sell for tens of thousands of dollars on the black market.
Over
the past decade, this small Balkan nation of 2.1 million has seen more
than 10,000 religious artifacts stolen from its churches, including
precious icons painted in the stylized Byzantine tradition. None of the
works have been recovered. Thieves have removed whole sections of altar
screens, altars, crosses, lamps and Bibles.
Macedonia’s art-rich
rural religious sites, mostly dating from the 15th-19th centuries, are
seen as the custodians of the predominantly Orthodox Christian country’s
cultural and religious identity. The cultural heritage department says
about 201 churches and monasteries are registered as national treasures.
According to rough estimates, about two-thirds are poorly guarded.
"Most
of the targeted churches are in remote villages, which are abandoned
during the winter," said Milco Georgievski, senior curator of the Icons
Gallery in the southwestern town of Ohrid. "There are no alarms and
anybody can open the doors with a simple kick. These are ideal
conditions for robbers."
Thieves mostly focus on churches in the
western part of the country that borders Albania, and is dominated by
ethnic Albanians — who make up about a third of Macedonia’s population.
One
simple explanation is that Orthodox sites don’t resonate as much with
the mostly Muslim Albanian minority. Authorities believe many of the
thefts are masterminded in Albania, using an organized network of
collaborators among minority regions.
"Albania is maybe only the
collection center for stolen icons," Georgievski said. "The speculation
is that most are sold on clandestine auctions in western Europe and end
up in private collections, including those of Russian tycoons."
Saso
Cvetkovski, director of the Doctor Nikola Nezlobinski Museum in Struga,
says more than 500 "priceless" icons have been stolen from churches in
the west over the past decade. The country has about 23,000 registered
icons.
"It is difficult to estimate the value of this national
treasure," Cvetkovski said, "which has exceptional historical, cultural
and religious value for Macedonia."
In October, police in the
Albanian capital of Tirana seized 1,077 stolen icons, frescoes and other
pieces of religious and secular art dating from the 15th to the
mid-20th century, including pieces from Macedonia.
Cvetkovski and
another Macedonian expert visited Tirana in December to inspect the
confiscated works and identified 21 stolen icons, whose return Macedonia
is expected to formally request from Albania.
Georgievski said
that he could not attach a value to the icons. But to give an idea of
their worth, he explained that Macedonia’s five most valuable icons were
insured for $50 million when they travelled to New York for an
exhibition in 2004.
The task of guarding religious sites lies with
the country’s Orthodox Church, and some say that is part of the
problem: The church, which grew in influence after the collapse of
communism in 1991, lacks specialized conservators who could care for the
churches and their contents. And in many cases, local church
authorities block moves to remove valuable works for safe storage
elsewhere.
For example, the 19th-century church of St. Nicholas,
in the village of Radozda, was targeted three times since 2012 before
authorities agreed to remove some of the valuable surviving works.
Caretaker Mile Skrceski says 23 icons from the altar screen were taken.
Bishop
Timotej, spokesman for the Macedonian Orthodox Church said work is
under way to document and register all icons in the west, and hopes that
by the end of next year most will be housed in a museum planned to be
built in Ohrid.
He added that "dozens" of the most valuable works have already been moved to a secret, safe
location.
While
it’s too late for Lazaropole, some 150 kilometers (90 miles) southwest
of the capital Skopje, church caretaker Gligurovski still holds out hope
that the altar screen can regain its plundered icons.
"They preserve the essence of who we actually are," he said.
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