"St. Nicholas" Church Remains

 Medieval / Middle Ages, historic ruins, 13th century construction, Orthodox church

"St. Nicholas" Church and Monastery "St. Haralampos" Remains.
It was built at the beginning of the XIII century as a Metropolitan Church by Sebastocrator Vladimir, brother of Despot Alexius Slav and is a three-nave building, basilica with three doorways of eastern type. Frescoes hold high artistic value. Some of them are still visible on the walls, while others are stored in the Archaeological Museum Sofia. Interesting artifacts found in the ruins are votive tablet of the Thracian goddess of hunting Artemis - Bendis, a Thracian gravestone with a dedication to the Roman Emperor Trajan, dating from 117 AD, and archaeological material from the early Middle Ages. Today there are only ruins left, but still the place is revered as sacred.
Monastery "St. Haralampos" is located near Melnik in the hill St Nicholas, south of the city. It is a cultural monument of national importance. This monastery is connected to the earliest so far in Melnik, three documents from XIth century Gospel, which is located in the National Library of Greece in Athens. The first one shows the potential year of construction - 1206 and its presumed founder sebast Vasiliy Vambulinos. The monastery consisted of two rooms "St. Archangels" and "St. Haralambos" under the same roof. They were highly decorated with bilayer frescoes. Now only ruins can be found at the place. Only minor parts of the walls and foundations are preserved.

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www.bg-guide.org/en/show-places/view/church-of-st-nikol...


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