By order of Gjergj Arianiti, the monk Savia completed the embroidery of the work “Epitaph of Gllavenica”, one of the most important objects that has been preserved and has come down to our days. The “Epitaph of Gllavenica” was discovered in the cellar of a ruined house, near Ballsh. The length of the epitaph is 211 cm, as much as the length of an ordinary grave, while the width is 114 cm. The “Epitaph of Gllavenica” is embroidered with gold-washed silver thread and soft silk. The epitaph belonged to the church of Gllavenica (the present day Ballsh). The story of the journey of the epitaph starts when it was embroidered by the hand of the monk Savia in 1373 for the church of Gllavenica. Years later, it ended up in the cellar of a house in Ballsh, then in the cathedral “St Mary’s Dormition” in the fortress of Berat, and in 1981, it was exhibited in the National Historical Museum in Tirana. (In the photo: Epitaph of Gllavenica)
Text: The Pavilion of the Middle Ages and the corner of the great Albanian dynasties , National Historical Museum, Tirana, 2017, pages 25-27.
Photo: © National History Museum
Graphic processing: AHCF
