An overview on ecclesiastical organisation in Dardania ; Vështrim mbi organizimin kishtar në Dardani gjatë periudhës mesjetare

Recent years' investigations in Kosova have attested that the late antique centers are often presenting unique values for the urbanization of this territory, primarily during Justinian's rule and later during the Middle Ages. Several paleobyzantine monuments, small towns or fortified settlements make up the basic structural remains of this period. Their study has just begun to draw up a new picture on our archeological knowledge as well as on early Christian architecture in Kosova. It is of a great importance to refer to previous discoveries and researches of paleochristian architecture remains as well as to the many new results achieved recently at Kosova. Recent archaeological excavation at Korishtë (Prizren), Harillaq (Fushë-Kosovë) and Kasterc (Suharekë) have not only ascertained the respective fortified systems but also produced a paleochristian church, ranking it within the 6th century sites in Dardania. The construction of several religious buildings in the previously explored territory such as those of Vërmicë, Banja near Pejë, or traces of an apse discovered while constructing the modern road Pejë-Banjë, date back to the 4th – 5th centuries.The churches of Bela Cerkve and that of Studenica, constructed over preexisting structures, date back in the 6th century. Within this group can be further included the church of St. Angelus in Prizren, which however dated to the 10th century, the decorative and architectural elements suggests an early Christian original setting. The first written document that attests on the ecclesiastical organization in the province of Dardania is the first council, organized by Emperor Constantine in AD 325, mentioning the bishop’s name of Dardania’s metropolis. Nevertheless, a number of other sources indicate that dardanian territory had embraced much earlier the ideas of Christianity. One significant indication is the mention of dardanian martyrs, Flori and Lauri, in Dardania in the middle of the 2nd century AD, in Acta Sanctorum and Ulpiana as martyrdom place. It also turns out ...