Church of St. Nicholas, Tuden village

Overview

The first village west of Godech, on the Nishava River, is Tuden. The Church of St. Nicholas is located in the center of Tuden, about 100 meters from the village square.

It is a single-nave single-apse with a semi-cylindrical stone vault. The church was built of quarry stones with mortar solder, and in many places materials from earlier construction were reused: cobblestones, part of a stone cross was used for the window frame in the altar apse, etc.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a porch with a wooden structure and brick filling was added to the west side of the church with two carved ceilings, which are extremely rare in the temples west of Sofia. The frescoes completely cover the interior of the church and their style is similar to that in the old church "St. Dimitar Solunski ” in the town of Godech. It is assumed that there is an older layer of painting under the murals, but no research has been done. From the inscription at the entrance to the nave, it is clear that there was a church on this place in the XV century and in 1812 it was rebuilt, and repairs were made in 1843 and 1845. This inscription is very interesting because it describes important events - the invasion of the Ottomans, the year of construction of the temple, the names of the founders.

The inscription above the entrance reads:

In order to be known in the future when this church was built, it was when the Turks conquered Bulgaria in 1400. Then this church was built in three days. The cattleman built it. Then 1812 came. Then Chorbadji Rano of Tuden renewed the icons. He did it secretly, so no one knew. The Turkish evil then hanged the bishop of Pirut and a monk of Mount Athos and 18 people. Then in 1843 Master Stefan, son of Rano, with Master Branko, renewed the church, when the people of Pirut opposed the Turks. Then master Stefan and his son Rangel, Georgi and Yanko - his brother and his son Peter Joan, Stana, Stefanovitsa, and Stamena, they built the church until noon, and at noon they ran and hid from the Turks. It was 1845.