James Crouchman: "Bulgaria’s old monasteries and churches are places of beauty and tranquillity. Like time capsules they contain remnants of the country’s history, like the fragile medieval frescoes in the churches of Berende and Kalotina, dating back almost to the reign of the Asen brothers' dynasty, in XII-XIII century.
But they also exhibit traces of recent, more local history; the flowers just laid out for Easter on the small table in the tiny, miraculously-beautiful church of the ascension in Vasilovtsi full of vibrant wall paintings, the paper icons left by the window to catch the light in semi-abandoned St. Iliya, Gorochevtsi, and the notices of remembrance pinned to a church door under a simple but lovely romanesque arch in Rayanovtsi. To paraphrase Rebecca West, what history means in flesh and blood, but also in stone and paint, candlewax and overgrown grass.
And visiting these places I met people who help keep that history alive: the lady in Kalotina who keeps the key to the extraordinary 14th-century of St. Nicholas on a Vienna keyring from her son living in Austria, the uncle of a friend in Berende who recounted the story of a local priest getting drunk and whitewashing the church walls, and the man in Rayanovtsi who told me there was also a church in that village (almost no photos of it exist on the internet and I sometimes wonder if I dreamed it) and said if I drank from the village well I would one day return there."
Razboishte monastery Presentation of the Virgin Mary, XIV century
Razboishte monastery Presentation of the Virgin Mary, XIV century
Church of Saint Nicholas, Kalotina, early XIV century
Church of Saint Nicholas, Kalotina, early XIV century
Church of Saint Nicholas, Kalotina, early XIV century
Medieval church, village of Mecha Polyana
Church of St Peter, Berende, near Dragoman, XIV-XV century
Church of St Peter, Berende, near Dragoman, XIV-XV century
Church of St Peter, Berende, near Dragoman, XIV-XV century
Church of St Peter, Berende, near Dragoman, XIV-XV century
Abandoned church Saint Iliya, Gorotchevtsi, XIX century
Church Saint Iliya, Gorotchevtsi, XIX century
St George's church, Kremikovtsi monastery
Fresco of the founder (κτήτωρ) Radivoy, XV century
St George's church, Kremikovtsi monastery, XV century
St George's church, Kremikovtsi monastery, XV century
St George's church, Kremikovtsi monastery, XV century
St George's church, Kremikovtsi monastery, XV century
Lozen Monastery of the Holy Saviour,
founded XI-XII century
Lozen Monastery of the Holy Saviour,
founded XI-XII century
Lozen Monastery of the Holy Saviour,
founded XI-XII century
Lozen Monastery of the Holy Saviour,
founded XI-XII century
Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Milanovo XIV century
Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Milanovo XIV century
St Petka monastery, Penkyovtsi, frescoes from 1867
St Petka monastery, Penkyovtsi, frescoes from 1867
St Petka monastery, Penkyovtsi, frescoes from 1867
Rozhen Monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God, founded XIII century
Rozhen Monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God, founded XIII century
Vasilovtsi monastery, frescoes form 1841
Vasilovtsi monastery, frescoes form 1841
Key to the St Demetrius church, village of Zhedna
In St Demetrius church, village of Zhedna, near Radomir
St Nikola church, village of Tchukovets
St Nikola church, village of Tchukovets
St Nikola church, village of Tchukovets
St Nikola church, village of Tchukovets
St Demetrius church, village of Zhedna, near Radomir
By the church of St Peter, Berende, XIV-XV century
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James Crouchman: