The Church of the Holy Mother of God, full name Cathedral Church of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God ( bg, Църква Света Богородица, Катедрален храм "Успение Богородично") is 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

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 ...

's second largest city

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 ...

. The church is situated in the Old town of Plovdiv on one of the city's seven hills, Nebet Tepe. A small church existed on the site as early as the 9th century. The church was renovated in 1186 by the bishop of Plovdiv Constantine Pantehi and it became part of a monastery. Both the church and the monastery were destroyed when the

Ottoman Turks 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, ...

conquered the city in 1371 in the course of the Bulgarian-Ottoman Wars. The current edifice was constructed in 1844 as the main church of the city. It was a large three-nave pseudo-basilica built 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 ...

, and the first benefactors (''

ktitor ''Ktetor'' ( el, κτήτωρ) or ''ktitor'' (; ka, ქტიტორი ''kt’it’ori''; ro, ctitor), meaning "founder", is a title given in the Middle Ages to the provider of funds for construction or reconstruction of an Eastern Orthodox ch ...

s)'' were wealthy merchants from the town of

Koprivshtitsa Koprivshtitsa ( bg, Копривщица, pronounced , from the Bulgarian word , ''kopriva'', meaning "nettle") is a historic town in the Koprivshtitsa Municipality in Sofia Province, central Bulgaria, lying on the Topolnitsa River among the S ...

, the Chalukov brothers - Vulko and Stoyan Teodorovich Chalukovi. The

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand t ...

was made by carvers from Bulgarian School of

Debar Debar ( mk, Дебaр ; Albanian: ''Dibër''/''Dibra'' or ''Dibra e Madhe;'' ) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar has an ...

. Most of the church's icons were created by the painter Nikola of

Odrin Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

. On 25 December 1859 and again on 10 January 1860 the bishop of Plovdiv Paisius held a service in

Bulgarian language Bulgarian (, ; bg, label=none, български, bălgarski, ) is an Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the language of the Bulgarians. Along with the closely related Macedonian la ...

and publicly announced that his congregation denounced the Greek Patriarch of

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

which became a great scandal and Plovdiv became the most radical center for the struggle of the autonomy of the

Bulgarian Orthodox Church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church ( bg, Българска православна църква, translit=Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria ( bg, Българска патриаршия, links=no, translit=Balgarsk ...

. On 30 April Paisius organized a Church and People's counsel in which the citizens were also represented in order to discuss the church question. Plovdiv sent a delegation to the Ottoman government asking officially for an autonomous Church. That Counsel was held annually until 1870 when the

Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate ( bg, Българска екзархия, Balgarska ekzarhiya; tr, Bulgar Eksarhlığı) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and th ...

was recognized by the Ottomans. In 1881, three years after the

Liberation of Bulgaria The Liberation of Bulgaria is the historical process as a result of the Bulgarian Revival. In Bulgarian historiography, the liberation of Bulgaria refers to those events of the Tenth Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) that led to the re-establishmen ...

the architect

Josef Schnitter Josef Schnitter ( bg, Йосиф Шнитер, ''Yosif Shniter''; 16 October 1852–26 April 1914) was a Czech– Bulgarian architect, engineer and geodesist credited with shaping the modern appearance of Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second-largest city. S ...

constructed a three-story domed belfry near the western entrance of the church. On the belfry there is an inscription which reads "''In memory of the liberators''" as gratitude of the citizens to the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n soldiers who liberated the city on 4 January 1878.

External links

Church of the Holy Mother of God (in Bulgarian)
{{Plovdiv Bulgarian Orthodox churches in Bulgaria Holy Mother 19th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings