Medieval architecture and outstanding art in private Sofia tours
Nowadays, there are private Sofia tours that tell us interesting stories and facts of bygone times. A story like that is the one of the Boyana Church – the tiny jewel in the suburbs of Sofia.
Once upon a time, during the Middle Ages, more precisely during the First Bulgarian Empire, there were 35 fortresses in the area of what was then Sredets – today’s Sofia. there was the strong Bulgarian fortress that stood on the lower slopes of the Vitosha Mountain. Today that is the Sofia suburb of Boyana. Today’s Sofia used to be Sredets in the past. There were thirty-five fortresses and settlements, which formed the fortification systems of the city of Sredets. Boyana was one of the fortresses. Its name appeared for the first time in 969. Inside the boundaries of that fortress people built the Boyana Church.
Boyana Church, 900 years old
The church is about 900 years old and has undergone many transformations and extensions during its existence. The Boyana Church construction was in three stages. The first stage appeared in the late 10th and early 11th century. The second – in the mid-13th. And then, the last one – in the mid-19th century. It is a two-storey church and it was originally constructed in the late 10th and early 11th century. Then, in the 13th century the central wing was added and in the middle of the 19th century the whole building was finished with a further expansion to the west.
Only the first two churches, built during the Middle Ages, possess significant aesthetic and architectural value. In private Sofia guided tours we learn that the First Church or the so-called East Church had the design of a chapel. Also, people used it as a chapel. It was a typical Greek-cross plan with a dome, and a concealed internal cross without free-standing support and without a narthex. It was made entirely of brickwork.
The second section of today’s Boyana Church, Sebastocrator Kaloyan and his wife ordered it. This is the section from the mid-13th century that adjoins the East Church. Soon, the new two-storey tomb-church type building to the western wall of the First Church appeared. The intention for the ground floor was it to be a narthex and it has direct access to the East Church.
A sense of wonder that Boyana Church makes you experience
The family used the upper floor as a family chapel. They dedicated it to the martyr healer St. Panteleimon. Access to the chapel is by an outside staircase along the southern wall. Thus, the Boyana Church combines the East and Kaloyan’s churches in an unique combination of functional, structural, architectural and decorative requirements.
Private Sofia tours, as well as daily Sofia tour, will show you that the simple exterior and small size of Boyana Church can be deceptive. That surely gives you a misleading information of the Boyana Church’s majesty within.
Only some 10-15 min visitors to the church have the chance to enjoy it from inside. That is because of preservation measurements. However, it is enough to feel the outstanding, inspiring power of the place. The total of 89 scenes with 240 human images are depicted on the walls of the church.
Inevitably comes the question who is to be responsible of this masterpiece. Of course the donors, the builder and the artists. We know the names only of the donors. The analysis of the style and techniques suggests two persons, each with his own individuality. The Bulgarian people, however, have a well-established idea that the Boyana wall-paintings were the work of a single artist, whom they call the Boyana Master.
A remarkable monument in private Sofia tours
Whatever the truth is, Boyana Church stays a remarkable monument of Bulgarian medieval culture and in 1979 the World Heritage Committee included it in the List of World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
Private Sofia tours, Boyana Church and a contact us away from booking an experience for the soul!
