Medieval church

Overview

The medieval church is located between the mosque and the police station in the town of Krumovgrad. It is located next to an open fortress wall of an ancient and medieval fortress.

Archaeologists Ivan Velkov and Pavel Deliradev also suggest the existence of a fortress, according to which there was a fortified settlement under most of the buildings in the center of today's city. They report that the walls were reinforced with square towers and round at the corners, but do not suggest how large the fortification was. The observations subsequently confirmed these reports. In the 70s of the XX century, during excavations, two walls with a thickness of 2 m were noticed in two places.
At the beginning of 1989, when leveling the terrain around the mosque, the foundations of walls were discovered, built of quarry stones with mortar solder and several graves destroyed. The discovery necessitated rescue excavations, which took place the same year by a team of leaders: Nikolay Ovcharov, Katya Melamed and D. Hadjieva. The archeological research was made in the area south of the mosque, where the medieval church was discovered. Then a fragment of the fortress wall and the foundations of a rectangular intermediate tower are studied. The wall, which is still visible today, the visible part of which is about 20 m long, is north-south and has a thickness of 2.20 m. During the excavations in the 70s a similar wall was registered with east-west direction. , which allows to calculate the approximate area of ​​the fortification. In addition, north of the church were found five children's graves, whose chambers are formed of tiles and stones.
As a result of the research it is established that the fortress was built in antiquity (Roman era) on the site of a Neolithic settlement. The fortification also existed in the Middle Ages, in the period X - XIV century, when it was rebuilt and a church was built next to it. An exposed layer of fire testifies that the Christian temple was destroyed by burning, most likely during the conquest of these lands by the Ottomans in the late fourteenth century.
Centuries after the ruin of the church, the inhabitants of the settlement - the heir of the medieval fortress built a Muslim temple next to it - the mosque "Seitlar Jamisi", built in 1855 and acquired its present appearance in 1901.

According to the plan, the medieval church near the fortress of Krumovgrad is one-nave, one-apse. The walls, preserved at a height of up to 0.60 m, are made of cut stone, welded with mortar. The flooring, which is preserved in the western part of the building, is made of stone slabs, arranged tightly next to each other. A silver coin from the 14th century was found on them.
On the north wall are preserved in place fragments of the frescoes of the temple, from the bottom - the base belt. Ceramic bowls from its facade decoration were found in the embankment of the church, which suggests that the cult building had a refined appearance. Silver Turkish coins were also found there.
On the site around the church there is an abundance of medieval ceramic material, dating to the X - XIV century.

Today, the medieval church, this valuable monument, testifying to the turbulent and turbulent history of the Krumovgrad region, is neglected and sunk in weeds and garbage. In contrast, the nearby mosque, which dominates the surrounding cityscape in size, is maintained in perfect condition and filled with worshipers.