Sveti Jovan Bigorski, Konak stair platform
Radika River, Macedonia
The platform that begins the stairway to the top level provides an excellent place to sit and view the courtyard, church, and landscape beyond. The roof opposite covers an open gallery and the monastery's refectory for meetings and dining. The heavy stone tile roof is needed in this windy and mountainous site and is installed to drain water away from the overlapping joints. Along this river valley many of the older structures use either stone or terra cotta roof tiles; often the terra cotta roofs have additional stones placed upon the roofs to help to stabilize the lighter tiles from gusts of wind.(1988 photo)
