5 November 2023, Veliko Tarnovo
Guest House Selin 50lev [R500]

What a morning we have had! We turned right out of our guest house, walked 200 metres, bought a ticket, and crossed a medieval bridge into the Tsarevets fortress which "served as the Second Bulgarian Empire's primary fortress and strongest bulwark between 1185 and 1393, housing the royal and the patriarchal palaces... The fortress became the most important one in Bulgaria, often compared with Rome and Constantinople in magnificence. In 1393, the stronghold was besieged by Ottoman forces for three months before finally being conquered and burnt down on 17 July, which marked the fall of the Bulgarian Empire."
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But it was not the fortress we had come to visit. We wanted to see the murals in the reconstructed Ascension Cathedral.
"The church was part of the fortified residence of the patriarchs, located inside the Tsar's fortress, but also having its own fortifications. It was completely destroyed - together with the patriarch's residence - after Bayezid I conquered Tsarevets in 1393.
In 1981, the cathedral was rebuilt according to the design of Bojan Kuzupov, based on preserved miniatures and plans of the temple as well as information obtained during archaeological works. The decision to reconstruct the facility was made in connection with the celebration of the 1300th anniversary of the establishment of the Bulgarian state. Until 1985, work on interior decoration and frescoes was carried out by Teofan Sokerow. The frescoes are not copies of the original paintings in the cathedral, they were not made based on Orthodox canons, but in a contemporary monumental style. Their appearance and content are intended to represent the power and level of cultural development of medieval Bulgaria."
The temple was rebuilt during the communist era. It serves as a historical monument; it has not been consecrated.
Loved, loved, loved the interior…