Church of the Holy Mother of God, Donja Kamenica

The Church of the Holy Mother of God (Serbian: Црква Свeте Богородице / Crkva Svete Bogorodice; Bulgarian: Църква „Света Богородица“, Tsarkva „Sveta Bogoroditsa“) is a medieval Eastern Orthodox church in the village of Donja Kamenica in Knjaževac Municipality, Zaječar District, eastern Serbia.

The church is generally considered to have been built in the 14th century, when this area was part of the Second Bulgarian Empire's Vidin appanage, though alternative datings have been proposed.

While small, the Church of the Holy Mother of God is notable for its unusual architectural style, in particular for its high narthex flanked by two sharp-pointed towers.

The Church of the Holy Mother of God lies in the eastern Serbian village of Donja Kamenica, some 10 to 15 kilometres (6.2 to 9.3 mi) southeast of Knjaževac, northeast of Niš and not far from the Bulgarian border.

[1][2] The church is located at the square in the centre of the village, by the left bank of the Trgoviški Timok river[3] and along an old military road from Pirot to Vidin.

[2][6] At the time, the village of Donja Kamenica, along with much of the Timok Valley region, belonged to the Vidin appanage of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

Judging by the models depicted in the donor's portraits inside the church, it is clear that the towers were originally further apart and the west facade with the narthex included much woodwork.

[1] Art historian Nikola Mavrodinov believes these resemble Gothic architecture, though a more modern researcher, Bistra Nikolova, dismisses his assessment and considers these an influence from Hungary or Transylvania.

[8][11] Besides religious imagery, the frescoes of the Donja Kamenica church also include eleven portraits of contemporary historical figures, separated into four compositions.

The first composition is located in the cella and depicts two men preserved from the waist up, of which one holds a model of the church, and a child, of which only the head is visible today.

Art historian Dragana Frfulanović believes that the images of men holding models in both compositions depict the same person, the main donor.

[4][11] Of greatest interest is the fourth composition of historical figures, a young man and a woman, which was painted on the lowest west wall of the narthex and includes inscriptions in Old Church Slavonic.

She theorises that Anna Neda settled in Vidin after Michael Shishman's second marriage and owned a personal domain which included Donja Kamenica.

Backside.
Fourth fresco composition.