The Church of the Holy Mother of God ( bg, Църква Света Богородица) a

Bulgarian National Revival The Bulgarian National Revival ( bg, Българско национално възраждане, ''Balgarsko natsionalno vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and tr, Bulgar ulus canlanması) sometimes called the Bu ...

church in the town of

Boboshevo Boboshevo ( bg, Бобошево ) is a town in Western Bulgaria. It is located in Kyustendil Province and is close to the towns of Kocherinovo and Rila. The town of Boboshevo is situated around to the south of Sofia and from Bulgaria's prime ...

Kyustendil Province Kyustendil Province ( bg, Област Кюстендил, trl ''Oblast Kyustendil'') is a province in southwestern Bulgaria, extending over an area of (constituting 2.7% of the total territory of the Republic of Bulgaria), and with a populati ...

Location, history, architectural and artistic features

The church is situated in the center of Boboshevo. It is considered among the most beautiful National Revival churches in the Kyustendil Province, western

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. It has an unusual architecture which resembles the

Rila Monastery The Monastery of Saint John of Rila, also known as Rila Monastery "Sveti Ivan Rilski" ( bg, Рилски манастир „Свети Иван Рилски“), is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is situat ...

. It is built by carved stone with brick layers and in the interior there are ten columns. It is a three nave basilica. The church is 24 m long, 8 m wide and 10 m high. The roof is covered with tiles. In the interior there is a second floor which forms the female compartment which can contain 150 people, while on the first floor the church can hold more than 650 worshipers. The floor was covered with large square bricks but in 1923 they were replaced with mosaics. The edifice has three large doors made of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

. From the west and south there used to be a covered narthex. Initially the belfry used to be part of the church building raising from the south-western part of the female compartment. On 2 March 1904 an earthquake destroyed the belfry and the western narthex. In 1907 another belfry was constructed in the southern part of the church yard. The construction of the church began in the spring of 1851 and finished a decade later in 1862. According to contemporary accounts, the construction of a large church was needed because the existing churches which were small could not hold all people. It was built by

Milenko Velev Milenko Stefanov Velev (Bulgarian: Миленко Стефанов Велев), known as Master Milenko and Milenko Radomirets was a builder and architect from the time of the Bulgarian Renaissance. Biography The master was born in the end of t ...

from the village of Blateshnitsa near the town of Radomir who constructed the southern wing of the Rila Monastery. The naos, the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

and the gallery of the second floor were entirely painted. The painting of the large church was awarded to the famous National Revival painted

Stanislav Dospevski Stanislav Dospevski ( bg, Станислав Доспевски) is the name assumed by Zafir Zograf (Зафир Зограф), the son of Dimitar Zograf and nephew of the famed Bulgarian icon and mural painter, Zahari Zograf. He is a notable repr ...

who was assisted by his brothers Nikola and Zahari Dospevski. Many other painters from

Samokov Samokov ( bg, Самоков ) is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in a basin between the mountains Rila and Vitosha, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia. Due to the suitable winter sports conditions, Sam ...

and

Razlog Razlog ( bg, Разлог ) is a town and ski resort in Razlog Municipality, Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria. It is situated in the Razlog Valley and was first mentioned during the reign of Byzantine emperor Basil II. The municipali ...

including the local painter Georgi Veselinov - Zograf took part in the work. Part of the frescoes (1890–1898) were painted by Dimitar Sirleshtov and his apprentice Kostadin Hadzhi Popov. The church was solemnly inaugurated on 29 October 1862 in the presence of the whole population, people from the nearby villages and representatives from

Kyustendil Kyustendil ( bg, Кюстендил ) is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of the Kyustendil Province, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. The town is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, ...

Dupnitsa Dupnitsa, or Dupnica ( bg, Дупница (previously ), ), is a town in Western Bulgaria. It is at the foot of the highest mountains in the Balkan Peninsula – the Rila Mountains, and about south of the capital Sofia. Dupnitsa is the second la ...

and

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( bg, Благоевград ) is а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultural centre ...

. The church is named after

Holy Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, the mother of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

and wife of the carpenter

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers of ...

. She is also known as Saint Mary, Virgin Mary, Madonna and is the most celebrated

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

saint.

Literature

* Кепов, Иван - Миналото и сегашно на Бобошево. 1935, 288 с., издава Бобошевска популярна банка, печатница Кехлибар, с.192–206; * Заедно по свещените места на планината Осогово. Пътеводител, София, 2008 г., изд.РИМ - Кюстендил, печат.Дийор Принт ООД, с.108;

External links

Паметници на културата в Община Бобошево

Църквата "Света Богородица" - галерия
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church Of The Holy Mother Of God, Boboshevo Bulgarian Orthodox churches in Boboshevo Churches completed in 1862 19th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings 1862 establishments in the Ottoman Empire