Church of St. Paraskeva - town of Byala

Overview

The oldest still existing church in Byala is named after the "Holy Venerable Martyr Paraskeva". It was built in 1847 by the inhabitants of Byala under the then current laws of the Ottoman Empire. The temple of the Orthodox Christians could not be taller than the height of a Turk with a fez mounted on his horse. The interior decoration was modest, and yet the believing Christians furnished and cared for it with great love. This is evidenced by the memories of the priests Michal, Dimitar and Mihail-Lazar Madjarov. Until 1907, Greek was preached in the church, during which time all church books in that language were confiscated and burned. In one of the rooms in the vestibule of the temple was the Greek school. The donated icons date from 1830, some of them were restored by grandfather Nikola Zograf in 1935.