Medieval church of St. Nicholas

Overview

St. Nicholas is a medieval Bulgarian church in the town of Sapareva Banya, Sapareva Banya municipality, Kyustendil district. Located in the city park, in the city center. It was built in the XII-XIII century. According to local sources from the end of the 19th century, a throne stone from the holy altar of the church was sent to the Archaeological Museum in Sofia, on which Prof. R. Hristov read an inscription with the year - 1160. In an attempt to build a new church in 1838, the villagers discovered old foundations and pillars from another larger church west of St. Nicholas. According to Nikola Mavrodinov, St. Nicholas was a tomb or an ordinary chapel next to a large temple dedicated to its minor saints. According to legend, the church is the tomb of a local feudal lord named Nicholas. The larger church was demolished at the beginning of the Ottoman rule. The Church of St. Nicholas was spared, but gradually began to crumble because the Turks did not allow it to be repaired. According to local legends, after the Crimean War, a group of Circassians settled over the Giurgiu neighborhood began to destroy the church. The Circassian, who began to tear it down from the dome, fell with him into the church and died. Frightened, the others gave up further destruction. During the Liberation, the roof was completely destroyed. The church was completely restored in 1937 according to a project of arch. Alexander Rashenov (1892 - 1938).