The Church of the Holy Mother of God ( bg, Църква Света Богородица) is a Bulgarian National Revival church in the town of Panagyurishte, Pazardzhik Province. It is situated in the central part of the town separated from the central square by the Town Hall and the '' Chitalishte'' Videlina. In the same yards was located the Church of St Theodore which was Panagyurishte's oldest church. St Theodore was constructed in the mid 16th century and used to be a small one nave edifice which is now connected with the larger new church. During the uncertain first decade of the 19th century it was destroyed by Ottoman bandits called ''kardzhalii'' and restored between 1808 and 1809 by orders of the Bishop of

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

Dionisius. The construction of the Church of the Holy Mother of God started in 1818 near the southern wall of the old building and was finished in 1823. It was one nave basilica with a colonnade and was much larger than the old church. It was inaugurated by Dionisius as well. The edifice was constructed by craftsmen from

Bratsigovo Bratsigovo ( bg, Брацигово ) is a town in Southern Bulgaria. It is located in the foothills of the Rhodope Mountains, on the banks of the Umishka River in Pazardzhik oblast, and is close to the towns of Peshtera and Krichim. Bratsigov ...

while the interior was decorated by painters from the famous Samokov school. The interior was badly damaged when the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

burned Panagyurishte during the April Uprising in 1876. It was restored between 1878 and 1880 after the Liberation of Bulgaria. In 2003 the church was renovated and the domes were covered with golden plates.

Gallery

File:Sv Bogoroditsa Panagyurishte2.jpg File:Sv Bogoroditsa Panagyurishte3.jpg File:Sv Bogoroditsa Panagyurishte4.jpg,

References

Description of Church of the Holy Mother of God on the site of the Panagyurishte municipality
{{coord, 42, 30, 15.75, N, 24, 11, 26.46, E, region:BG, display=title Bulgarian Orthodox churches in Bulgaria Buildings and structures in Panagyurishte Churches completed in 1823 Tourist attractions in Pazardzhik Province