Holy Transfiguration Church

 church, 1830s construction, Bulgarian Orthodox Church

The Holy Transfiguration Church is catholicon in the Holly Transfiguration Monastery.
The Monastery is situated about 7 km away from the middle aged capital Veliko Tarnovo. It is one of the biggest monasteries in Bulgaria and one the most interesting because it was built and decorated by two of the greatest creators and masters in Bulgaria – Zahari Zograf and Kolyu Ficheto.
In fact the monastery was founded in the 14the century with the donations made by Queen Teodora Sara but during the Turkish slavery it was completely destroyed. In 1832 the Turkish Sultan gave his permission a new church to be built in the place of the old monastery.
In 1834 the genius master Kolyu Ficheto completed the church. After that the icon painter Zahari Zograf painted the church, which took him three years. The whole monastery was restored in 1882. The wall paintings like the "Doomsday" and the “Circle of life” are of great cultural significance. The second picture shows the transience of the human life. The gold – platted iconostasis is another monument of the wood – carving art in Bulgaria.