Sat, May 26 2012

Archaeology: Unique frescos from 15th century found in a Bulgarian monastery

Thu, Jun 30 2011 11:54 CET

byThe Sofia Echo staff

4479 Views
Archaeology: Unique frescos from 15th century found in a Bulgarian monastery

Prof Nikolai Ovcharov

Photo: Nadezhda Chipeva

Bulgarian archaeologists found unique frescoes dating from the 15th century in the Saints Petar and Pavel church in the city of Veliko Turnovo, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) said on June 29 2011.

Eighteen fragments depicting saints were found at a depth of 1.5 metres. A depiction of Saint George was very well preserved.

The frescoes' colours were also very well-preserved. Parchment written in Old Bulgarian had also been recovered.

The team headed by Professor Nikolai Ovcharov and Professor Hitko Vachev discovered the fresco ensemble from the first part of 15th century while they were excavating the yard of the church, built during the Middle Ages.

The frescoes depict religious figures, saints and scenes from ecumenical councils.

Ovcharov said that the frescoes, the church's original decoration, had been buried in graves in the yard.

"Perhaps, the frescoes fell down after a strong earthquake in 16th century", prof Vachev said.

Ovcharov said that when a church had to be repaired during the Middle Ages, the broken frescoes had been buried in a religious ceremony.

Frescoes from the 13th and 16th centuries were also found in the church during other excavations.

The SS Petar and Pavel church in Veliko Turnovo was built by Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan (1197-1207).

After the restoration of the frescoes, they will be put on display in Turnovo's Archaeological museum.

  • Print
  • Send via email
  • Translate to
  • Share:

To post comments, please, Login or Register.


Please read the The Sofia Echo forum comments policy.

Archaeology: Unique mosaic found in Bulgaria's Stara Zagora

The mosaic dates back to about the third century and depicts a man and two women, all members of Dionysus’ entourage.

Archaeology: Remains of ancient Greek settlement studied on island off Sozopol

The first colonists from the ancient Greek city of Miletus arrived at the end of the seventh century BCE.

Archaeology: New finds at ancient burial mound near Bulgarian village

Various artifacts found at site close to the village of Borissovo.

Archaeology: Discovery of Gothic amulet at Bulgaria’s Perperikon

Professor Nikolai Ovcharov says work will soon be complete on the study of the acropolis at Perperikon.

More in this category

Bulgaria's tourism tax ruled unconstitutional

The tax, levied on hotel owners, is calculated based on occupancy rate in the hotel, but assumes that at least 30 per cent of a hotel's rooms are booked at all times.

Bulgaria expects more than 100 000 foreign tourists at Orthodox Christian Easter

Most will be from Romania, followed by Greeks, then Serbians, Macedonians and Montenegrins.

Bulgaria’s Pamporovo resort offering free skiing ahead of Easter

Despite the warmer weather, this past winter’s record snowfall will enable the resort to offer skiing until mid-April.

UK airlines slam planned hike in passenger duty

'How much longer must this madness go on?' ask UK airlines worried that planned increase will kill jobs and quash tourism-led recovery.

Cautionary tales as tour groups caught in the middle of money rows

Foreign and Bulgarian tourists victim of debt row at a Pamporovo hotel, Foreign Ministry intervenes after another tour group delayed in Morocco, and Bulgarian arrested in Serbia for forging receipts for payment for tour group.

© 2000-2012, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.