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Christ
Emmanuel; Christ, The Ancient of Days; and the acheiropoietic (“made without hands”) Holy Mandylion and Holy Tile. Next come scenes from the Major Feast Days and the Passions of Christ. Among the full-length portrayals of saints in the first tier, there are ten warrior saints. The Virgin Enthroned, surrounded by archangels, is represented in the altar conch. Below are four church fathers: St. Gregory the Theologian, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and Patriarch Germanus. The frescoes flanking the altar show the deacons Laurentius, Euplius and Stephen, as well as St. Nicholas, the patron of the ground floor of the church – one of the most popular saints and the patron saint of sailors, merchants and bankers.
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displays the Virgin and Child, St. Anna and St. Joachim, and Christ
Blessing. St. Catherine, St. Marina, St. Theodore the Studite and St. Pachomius are portrayed in the lower tiers on the walls. The south arcosolium features the scene of Christ Disputing with the Doctors, and the north one, the Presentation of the Virgin. Two highly revered Bulgarian saints are also represented in the narthex – St. John of Rila (the oldest surviving representation of the saint) and St. Paraskeva (Petka). The hermit St. Ephraim Syrus appears among the monks portrayed here. The expressive realistic
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Grigorov stated "The
Christian Orthodox religion forbids the painter from manifesting himself, as in the eyes of the priests it is God who guides his hand. But this painter inscribed his name, knowing that the believers could not see it." Other historians and archaeologists are less convinced that the inscription identifies the "master", since it could equally have been left by an assistant.
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in the mid-13th century. This building belongs to the two-floor tomb-church type. It consists of a ground-floor family sepulchre with a semi-cylindrical vault and two arcosolia on the north and south walls, and of an upper-floor family chapel identical in design to the eastern church. The exterior is
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The frescoes in the oldest section of the church include a magnificent representation of Christ
Pantocrator in the dome. The drum below shows a host of angels, with the Four Evangelists – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – portrayed in the pendentives. Four images of Christ adorn the face of the arches:
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Besides the first layer of 11th–12th-century frescoes, of which only fragments are preserved, and the famous second layer of murals from 1259, the church also has a smaller number of later frescoes from the 14th and 16th–17th centuries, as well as from 1882. The frescoes were restored and cleaned in
518:. Boyana is the only and the most impressive wholly preserved monument of the Turnovo School of Painting from the 13th century. According to many leading experts, the world famous frescoes in the Boyana Church played an important role in the development of mediaeval Bulgarian and European painting.
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The life of St. Nicholas is depicted in 18 scenes in the narthex (the second section of the church). The unknown artists included elements of contemporary life in those scenes, and many of the figures are quite realistic – especially their countenances. The lunette above the entrance of the narthex
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Some parts of the church were overpainted, and the majority of those frescoes have survived to the present day. The later frescoes include a scene of the
Presentation of the Virgin from the 14th century, a portrait of St. Nicholas from the 16th–17th century, and representations of the two patron
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stated: "The renovation revealed a rare inscription under a layer of plaster on one of the church walls: 'I, Vasiliy inscribed'. The 13th-century 'Boyana master' was the only painter among the kings and nobles whose names were regularly read out during sermons at the church." Restorator
Grigoriy
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According to the donor’s inscription on the north wall of the second section, the second layer of frescoes dates from 1259. Those frescoes were painted over the earlier layer by a team of unknown artists, who also decorated the two floors of the building commissioned by
Sebastocrator Kaloyan.
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The Boyana Church was built in three stages: in the late 10th to early 11th, the mid-13th, and the mid-19th centuries. The oldest section (the eastern church) is a small one-apse cross-vaulted church with inbuilt cruciform supports. It was built in the late 10th or the early 11th century.
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The first layer of frescoes, which originally covered the entire eastern church, dates from the 11th–12th century. Fragments of those frescoes have been preserved in the lower parts of the apse and the north wall, and in the upper part of the west wall and the south vault.
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As a protection measure, air-conditioning was installed to keep the temperature at 17–18 degrees
Celsius (62–64 Fahrenheit), with low-heat lighting. Groups of up to 8 visitors are permitted to stay for 10 minutes. The building, placed under the management of the
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Sebastocrator
Kaloyan and his wife Dessislava, and of the Bulgarian Tsar Constantine Asen Tikh and Tsaritsa Irina – painted with precision, extraordinary skill and feeling – are among the oldest portraits of figures from Bulgarian history.
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The last section was built with donations from the local community in the mid-19th century. The church was closed to the public in 1954 in order to be conserved and restored. It was only partially reopened in 2006.
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culture. The majority of the more than 240 figures depicted here display individuality, remarkable psychological insight and vitality. The frescoes follow the canon of icon-painting established by the
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from 1259. They form a second layer over the paintings from earlier centuries and represent one of the most complete and well-preserved monuments of medieval art in the
Balkans.
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The east wing of the two-story church was originally constructed in the late 10th or early 11th century, then the central wing was added in the 13th century under the
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St Nicholas saving the life of the sailors (St Nicholas being the patron saint of sailors and sea navigators in Bulgarian Orthodox tradition)
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Today the name “Boyana Master” stands for the team of unknown artists who decorated the church and mastered their art in the studios of the
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Irina, are thought to be among the most impressive and lifelike frescoes in the church, and are located on the north wall of the church.
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The Boyana Church owes its world fame above all to the frescoes from 1259, which demonstrate the exceptional achievements of medieval
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A name, possibly that of a painter, was discovered during restoration works in 2006–2008.
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The second section, which adjoins the eastern church, was commissioned by Sebastocrator
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Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe
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The two layers of paint can be clearly seen in the dress of Saint Nicolas (left).
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was erected from the ground and created with the funds, care and great love of
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saints of the Boyana Church – St. Nicholas and St. Panteleimon – from 1882.
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UNESCO-listed Boyana church reveals identity of its medieval master
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Burial sites of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Bulgaria)
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564:ѣнѣ севастократора братᲈчѧда цр҃ва · внᲈкь · ст҃агⷪ ·
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Remarks on the Patron’s Inscription of the Boyana Church
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and a Bulgarian specialist, and again in 1934 and 1944.
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Saint Aretas or Arethan; often mistaken for St Nicholas
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fleet. The portraits of the patrons of the church —
558:мь · ст҃аго иерарха хв҃а николы · и ст҃аго и великѡ
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555:⁜ вꙁьдвиже сѧ ѿ ꙁемѧ · и сьꙁда сѧ · прѣчисты хра
370:Constantin Tikh of Bulgaria and Eirene of Nicaea
254:quarter. In 1979, the building was added to the
566:стефана · кралѣ србьскаго · написа же сѧ пи цр҃
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638:The Newly Restored Boyana Church Opened Today
434:and his wife Dessislava, as well as those of
407:The church owes its world fame mainly to its
938:Medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church buildings
588:This immaculate temple of the Holy hierarch
560:славнагѡ мѫченика хв҃а · пантелеимѡна · тече
426:, the ship and the sailors' hats recall the
569:ьство блгарское · при благовѣрнѣмь и бг҃очь
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562:ниемь и троудомь и любовнꙙꙛ многоꙙѫ · калѡ
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573:стивѣмь · и хс҃толюбивѣмь цр҃и · костањ
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699:Official website of the Boyana Church
307:National Historical Museum (Bulgaria)
242:church situated on the outskirts of
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280:Interior view of the Boyana Church
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750:World Heritage Sites in Bulgaria
709:The Boyana Church — virtual tour
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577:динѣ асѣни ⁘ едикто ·ꙁ҃ в лѣто
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791:Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo
662:at google.com, 3 October 2008
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40:Exterior of the Boyana Church
923:Tourist attractions in Sofia
153:Official name: Boyana Church
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714:Photos of the Boyana Church
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806:Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari
640:at News.bg, 2 October 2008
516:Turnovo School of Painting
480:Seventh Ecumenical Council
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16:Church in Sofia, Bulgaria
394:Christ among the scribes
272:History and architecture
212:Europe and North America
796:Srebarna Nature Reserve
523:National History Museum
492:portraits of the donors
482:held in Nicaea in 787.
414:Eighteen scenes in the
266:Second Bulgarian Empire
842:Bosnia and Herzegovina
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111:42.6446722; 23.2661722
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658:May 21, 2011, at the
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582:· ѕ҃ ⁘ ѱ҃· ·ѯ҃ ⁘ ꙁ҃ ⁘
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671:Kampgen, Sebastian.
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679:2016-03-03 at the
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342:Sebastocratoress
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94:42°38′40.82″N
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122:Architecture
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594:Panteleimon
592:and martyr
449:First layer
200:State Party
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52:Affiliation
907:Categories
625:References
499:Authorship
175:Designated
78:, Bulgaria
618:Indiction
525:director
476:Bulgarian
344:Desislava
294:Desislava
250:, in the
225:Bulgarian
135:Completed
882:Slovenia
878:Slovakia
677:Archived
656:Archived
590:Nicholas
443:Tsaritsa
428:Venetian
409:frescoes
402:Austrian
317:Frescoes
248:Bulgaria
237:medieval
203:Bulgaria
167:Criteria
162:Cultural
68:Location
63:Location
46:Religion
933:Vitosha
894:Ukraine
874:Romania
858:Germany
846:Croatia
838:Belgium
834:Austria
830:Albania
598:Kaloyan
416:narthex
290:Kaloyan
235:) is a
182:session
170:ii, iii
870:Poland
854:France
549:ktitor
256:UNESCO
252:Boyana
208:Region
72:Boyana
886:Spain
862:Italy
828:with
685:2011.
244:Sofia
180:(3rd
178:1979
76:Sofia
892:and
606:Tsar
441:and
219:The
159:Type
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223:(
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