The fresco paintings found inside St George's church in North Macedonia are a rare example of Byzantine art in the Balkan region. The governments of North Macedonia and Greece - alongside the European Centre for Byzantine Monuments - have agreed a deal to ensure the preservation of the frescoes.
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00:00 High in the mountains above Lake Prespa that connects North Macedonia to Greece and Albania
00:06 is the 12th century Church of St. George.
00:10 It's considered an important part of European cultural heritage.
00:15 And that's because its fresco paintings offer a rare and interesting example of Byzantine
00:20 art in the region.
00:22 According to some scientists, we can see the first signs of starting the pre-Renaissance
00:35 period, which we can see in the expression of the representing of the saints, also in
00:45 their dresses.
00:50 The governments of North Macedonia and Greece, alongside the European Centre for Byzantine
00:54 Monuments have agreed a deal to ensure the preservation of the frescoes.
01:01 And that's the challenge facing restoration teams from both countries tasked with the
01:05 tricky upkeep of these centuries-old masterpieces.
01:08 The paint, as we said, comes from mainly minerals, from stones and also from the vegetables or
01:18 even animals, some of the most rare paints.
01:23 So the paint was coming in powder, in very fine powder, and they mixed this fine powder
01:29 with lime in water.
01:32 They make an aqueous dispersion of lime.
01:36 The painter then would apply the paint on fresh mortar before the mortar dries.
01:45 Since North Macedonia and Greece signed the Prespa Agreement in 2017, bilateral cooperation
01:50 has gained momentum.
01:51 A concrete result of that cooperation is this joint project for the preservation of the
01:57 rich cultural heritage in the region of Lake Prespa, in whose water is the border between
02:03 those two countries.
02:05 In Prespa region, North Macedonia, for Euronews, Borjan Jovanovski.
02:09 [Whoosh]