Early Byzantine basilica - the village of Gela

Overview

The early Byzantine basilica in the village of Gela is located in the area of ​​the Monastery near the old church "Holy Trinity", shortly after the end of the village. The road to the end of the village is paved, but from there to the Christian temples leads a black well-trodden road. If you leave the car at the end of the asphalt, you are at the temple in ten minutes. There are information boards that guide tourists. The terrain is easy and pleasant to walk. From here it takes the road to the fortress "Gradishte", which is located 2.5 km. over the village. The basilica is part of a large religious complex, which is the highest religious complex in the mountains in this part of Europe - 1485 m. The complex was built during the Christianization of the Thracians. It was probably burnt down in the second half of the 6th century during the invasions of Slavs and Avars. According to archaeologists Damyan Damyanov, Nikolay Boyadzhiev from RIM "Stoyu Shishkov" Smolyan and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Margarita Vaklinova, who was the first researcher of the early Christian basilica, from him began the christening of the Thracian tribes in the Rhodopes. It was the largest and richly decorated in the Middle Rhodopes. The main building measures 30 by 14.80 m. Three longitudinal and one transverse nave (transept) are formed in the interior. The north nave is isolated from the inside and closed with a wall to the central part. It was entered into rooms to the north and south. In front of the south façade there was a portico, under which an entrance to the interior and an approach to a room in the south-east corner, probably a baptistery, were formed. The annexations from the north were also used for liturgical purposes. The walls of the churches were built of stone and brick. The floors were covered with ceramic tiles - round with a diameter of 0.60 m, rectangular and square. The roof was with a wooden structure and tiles. The temple was richly lit with glass windows. Architectural details of local stone were made for the interior. Remains of a second church are also known, on the site of which the Holy Trinity Church in the village of Gela was built. Near it, down the slope, were found residential buildings and a necropolis. By order of the Minister of Culture Vezhdi Rashidov, the early Byzantine basilica was declared a cultural monument of national importance.