Boyana Church

The Boyana Church is located in the eponymous area of Sofia. The area is built in low-rise private houses, and there is an old park around the church.

Church history

The Boyana Church has a long and interesting history, the church itself is very clearly visible. It was built in three stages, and more precisely, each time a new part was added to the finished structure.

The smallest part, it is the oldest, was built in the 11th century and is illuminated in honor of St. Panteleimon and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The dimensions of the church were 6 m2. She is the only one with a small dome. The next part was attached to the old church building in the 13th century. The extension had 2 floors, on the first — chapel and tomb, on the second — church of St. Panthelimon. Then the beginning of wall paintings was laid. In the 18th century, another part was added. The construction was led by the Byzantine court Kaloyan, but he continued to paint the temple with frescoes. Frescoes performed in an unconventional, realistic style for that time.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the local population wanted to build a new large church on this territory, for this they would have to demolish parts of the old, leaving only the very first part of the 11th century. Eleanor, the wife of King Ferdinand, determined another place for the new temple, and a park appeared around the church. The king ordered to plant in it, among other things, exotic sequoias. To date, these trees have grown into real giants.

Attractions

The most valuable for history are ancient frescoes, some of them have been preserved since the 13th century. The collection includes more than 200 images of saints and historical figures of those times. The painting is well preserved, the images are realistically spelled out. To a greater extent, thanks to frescoes, opaque in appearance, a small church received the status of the world heritage.

In the area around the church there is a small cemetery, in the old tombstones there is no longer anyone to distinguish between and when he was buried here. It stands out against the background of other graves of Queen Eleanor, thanks to which the Boyana Church survived and was restored not so long ago. At the entrance to the territory of the Boyana Church, a stele was installed in honor of the inhabitants of Boyana who died in the Balkan Wars. In the museum complex formed at the church, you can familiarize yourself with its stories in detail and see the 3d model of the entire temple.

The church does not hold services now, it functions as a museum, admission is paid, and shooting inside is prohibited. Due to the small internal size, tourists are allowed in small groups of up to 8 people. The history monument is very popular among local residents and guests of Bulgaria.