Early Christian Belovo Basilica to Be Featured in Photo Exhibit on ‘Christianity in Bulgaria’ in Moscow

The ruins of the Late Antiquity Belovo Basilica located near the town of Golyamo Belovo, Belovo Municipality, in Southwest Bulgaria, which is known as one of the best preserved Early Christian monuments in the country, will be featured in a photo exhibit on Christianity in Bulgaria in the Russian capital Moscow.

The exhibition in question is entitled “2000 Years of Christianity in Bulgaria”, and is organized by the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Moscow, the Bulgarian Embassy in Moscow, and Bulgaria’s National Museum of History in Sofia. (The date of the exhibit is yet to be announced.)

It will feature the first ever aerial photos of the Belovo Basilica taken by drone, Sevdalina Popova, Director of the Belovo Museum of History, has announced, as cited by Belovo Municipality.

The Belovo Basilica was built in Early Byzantine period, in the late 5^th-early 6^th century AD, in the Late Antiquity and medieval city of Leuka (Leuke) destroyed by the invading Ottoman Turks in the late 14^th century.

The church was part of an Early Christian monastery which survived until the 17^th when it, too, was destroyed by the Ottomans.

“[The aerial shots of the basilica] are very beautiful, and until now there had been none… The idea of this exhibition is to present the history of Christianity in the Bulgarian lands before the age of the establishment of the Bulgarian state. Our territories were part of the Roman and then the Byzantine Empire which were centers of Christianity,” Popova says.

The Belovo Basilica is known as one of the most interesting Early Christian landmarks even though it is hard to access by tourists, being located at the foot of Mount Spas on the northern slopes of the Rhodope Mountains.

Nonetheless, Belovo Municipality says several of its cultural tourism sites have recently had their tourist infrastructure revamped and improved with EU funding.

Learn more about the Belovo Basilica in the Background Infonotes below!

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Background Infonotes:

The Belovo Basilica is a partly preserved Early Christian church from the Late Antiquity / Early Byzantine period located on the northern slopes of the Rhodope Mountains (at the foot of St. Spas Mount) near the town of Golyamo Belovo, Belovo Municipality (10 km south of the town of Belovo), Pazardzhik District, in Southwest Bulgaria.

The basilica complex was an Early Christian monastery surviving until the 17^th century, which was part of the large Late Antiquity and medieval city and fortress of Leuka (Leuke) (not to be confused with the smaller Old Levka (Leuka) Fortress near the town of Levka, Svilengrad Municipality, in Southern Bulgaria near the border with Turkey). Leuka had a territory of about 80 decares (app. 20 acres), and was the center of an (Early) Christian parish. While Leuka has not been sufficiently researched by archaeologists, partly preserved fortress walls, building walls, a large round water reservoir, and various archaeological artifacts have been found where it once stood.

The Belovo Basilica was built at the end of the 5^th – the beginning of the 6^th century. It is a three-nave temple with three apses, and also had a baptistery. It was 28 meters long and 17 meters wide. Still surviving are western wall, the southern wall of its narthex, and an arcade in its northern section.

The basilica had a vaulted roof rather than domes which is considered a major difference from most other Early Christian basilicas in Bulgaria and the Balkans. It has thus been compared to Roman / Byzantine Mediterranean basilicas, especially in Asia Minor.

While the city of Leubka was destroyed by the invading Ottoman Turks in the 14^th-15^th century, the Belovo Basilica and its monastery is believed to have survived until the 17^th century when it was destroyed by the Ottoman Turks during the Islamization of the Velingrad region.

The basilica was first described in the 19th century by Bulgarian educators Stefan Zahariev and Petko Slaveykov. The first scientific publication about it was authored by historian Petar Mutafchiev in 1915. It was first excavated in 1924 by French-Ukrainian archaeologist Andre Grabar with funding by American scholar Thomas Whittemore.

The archaeological monument first received protected status in 1927, and in 1966 it was declared a monument of culture of national importance. In 1994, the Belovo Basilica was partly restored.

A small church was built near the basilica’s ruins in 1999. The Belovo Basilica is hard to access much of the year but is still popular for both tourists and locals.

Check out this YouTube video showing the ruins of the Belovo Basilica.

 

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