Photo Galleries

Virgin Mary Church
1.Virgin Mary ChurchThe bell-tower of the Virgin Mary Church.The church is built in the fore part of the Old Town, some hundred steps away from the ruins of one of the four gates of the Ancient Acropolis, leading to the Stadium. The church had been destroyed and reconstructed many times. In 1844-1845 the church was once more demolished and a new one was erected in its place.

Virgin Mary Church
2.Virgin Mary ChurchThe Virgin Mary  Icon with festive decoration.

Virgin Mary Church
3.Virgin Mary ChurchThe Virgin Mary Church - an inside view.Some of the icons are painted by some of the most famous masters: Dimitar Zograph, his son Stanislav Dospevsky and Nikola of Edirne.

Virgin Mary Church
4.Virgin Mary ChurchThe Virgin Mary Church - the narthex  view.

Constantine&Helena
5. Church " St.St. Constantine & Helena".The St.St. Constantine and Helena Church - named after the Roman Emperor and his mother.The oldest Chrisian church in Plovdiv. The church was built on the very fortifying wall of the acropolis. Next to it stands the famous Hisar Kapia Gate, the six-meter-tall fortress walls dating from Yustinian's time, and the ruins of the Round Tower. The icons are precious - some painted by Zachary Zograph himself (during the Revival period) but some date back to the 14th c.

St Petka Church
6. The St Petka Church This church, bulit in the 1830s, has the Holy Saint Paraskeva, also known as Petka of Bulgaria, as its patron saint. As the legend has it, Saint Petka was born in the 13th century in a Bulgarian family living in a small Thracian town on the Sea of Marmora. After the death of her well-off parents, she gave away all her riches to people poor and in need, and became a humble God\\\\'s servant. She died old in her hometown. The Saint\\\\'s relics were moved  to the old Bulgarian capital of Turnovo by the Bulgarian tsar Ivan Assen, in the year 1238.

The Dzhumaya Mosque
7.The Dzhumaya Mosque The impressive Dzhumaya Mosque ( the Bulgarian word for \\\\"mosque\\\\" - \\\\"dzhumaya\\\\" derives from the Turkish word meaning Friday, the day for Muslim prayers). During the times of the five-century Turkish Domination, 53 mosques were built in Plovdiv. According to Evlija Chelebi, the Dzhumaya Mosque was built in the 14th century, during the reign of Murad the Second (1359-1385), on an area of 1500 sq.m., over old bulgarian church - The St Petka Church Epivattska.Four heavy pilasters bear nine vaults. Its domes are covered with lead. The minaret stands 23 meters high. The area around the Mosque used to be a churchyard, notable citizens of the town were buried here.

The Dzhumaya Mosque
8.The Dzhumaya MosqueAnother view at the Dzhumaya Mosque.

St Marina Church
9. St Marina ChurchThe St Marina Church, also known as the bishop\\\\'s church (i.e. \\\\"principalis cathedrae\\\\") <SPAN style=""mso-bidi-font-size: " 9.0pt\\\\?>Each July 17th, the Bulgarian Orthodox Christianity celebrates the Holy Martyr Marina, who suffered terrible torturing and died for the Christian faith. <SPAN style=""mso-bidi-font-size: " 9.0pt\\\\?>According to the folk tradition, Saint Marina was considered to be the Mistress of snakes. People believed her to be the one to decide which of the snakes will go to earth: any snake that bit a human was judged sinful - and condemned to stay out in the cold. Curiosly enough, her day, July 17th is worshipped by young unmarried women. (Any connection to snakes?)

St Marina Church
10. The St Marina ChurchAmong the most precious iconographic canvases in the church are the icons of Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, painted by the eminent Bulgarian artist Stanislav Dospevski (an interesting fact: he was the first Bulgarian painter to receive a higher education).

St Marina Church
11.St Marina ChurchThe St Marina Church - the beautiful backyard.The St Marina church was built in the first half of the 16th century. Burnt down several times, it was entirely reconstructed. The six-storey wooden bell tower adds to the architectural ensemble.

St Peter & Paul Church
12. St Peter & Paul ChurchThe St Peter and Paul Church (also known as the St Minah Church, due to the famous icon of that saint the church is famous for). In the Christian tradition the Holy Martyr St Minah is known as a saint warrior and healer. He lived in Egypt in the 3rd century AD, and died as a martyr. In the Bulgarian traditional culture St Minah is honoured as a protector to the ill and suffering and to all that have lost something valuable and dear to them, and his icon also protects against malice and thieves.  When a man started a new venture, people used to say "May St Minah guide you in your doings!"

St Peter & Paul Church
13. "St Peter & Paul" ChurchThe St Peter and Paul Church (also known as the St Minah Church, due to the famous icon of that saint the church is famous for).

St Nedelya church
14. St Nedelya churchThe St Nedelya church - this is one of the largest Orthodox churches in Plovdiv.  It is named after the Holy Martyr Nedelya-Kiriakya (both names mean \\\\"Sunday\\\\", in Bulgarian and Greek respectively). She was born in Asia Minor, and she dedicated herself to God since early childhood, vowing to remain virgin all her life.  She was betrayed for being a Christian believer, caught by the orders of the Roman Emperor Diocletian and tortured to death, her last words being: \\\\"To die for Christ is life for me.\\\\"

St Nedelya church
15. The St Nedelya church The name Nedelya (Kiriaki in Greek) means \\\\"Sunday\\\\". It was built in 1578.  Only the iconostasis of the chapel was preserved from the original building. The present church \\\\"St Nedelya\\\\" is one of the ten Orthodox churches built during the period 1829-1856. The three-nave basilica church St. Nedelya (built in 1831) is guided by the same interior composition principles - the structure is blended with National Revival architecture requirements. The altar entrance itself is a major artistic achievement.

St Nedelya church
16. The St Nedelya churchThe church posseses one of the most interesting and precious iconostases, featuring elaborate and exquisite compositions. The church icons were painted by the famous Bulgarian artists Dimitar Zograph, Stanislav Dospevski and Nikola of Edirne.

St Cyril&Methodius Church
17. The St Cyril and Methodius church Ever since the earliest Bulgarian manuscript books preserved until today, we can trace the tradition to honour the two saint brothers - St Cyril on February 14th and St Methodius on April 6th. The earliest mutual celebration of both saints on May 11 goes back to the 12th century. Later on, people honoured their memory with a church celebration on that date but during the Revival period it turned into a secular celebration of Bulgarian knowledge and culture.  The first such celebration was organized by Naiden Gerov in Plovdiv in 1851.

St Cyril&Methodius Church
18. The St Cyril and Methodius church

The small St Petka church
19. The small St Petka church The day of Saint Petka, October14th, was considered a big national holiday celebrating the end of the warm days and the beginninbg of winter. That used to be the day the farm-owners paid off the summer period to all the wage labourers. From that day on, people started to celebrate the so called \\\\"family tradition holidays\\\\",  by a special ritual of slaughtering a white male animal with a priest\\\\'s service.  The mistress of the house baked home-made loaves of bread, known as \\\\"God\\\\'s bread\\\\", \\\\"Saint\\\\'s bread\\\\" or \\\\"St Petka\\\\'s bread\\\\".   There was usually a huge family reunion, with all the generations gathering around the lined tables to celebrate that day.

St Ivan Rilski Church
20. The St Ivan Rilski ChurchThe church is named after the famous Bulgarian Ivan Rilski (in English also known as Saint John of Rila), who lived around 876-946, and was later canonized as a saint. On each July 1st, Bugarians honour the removal of the relics of St. John of Rila from the former capital of Turnovo to the Rila Monastery ( that happened in 1469 during the reign of the Sultan Murad II )  He is honoured as a patron saint of the whole Bulgarian nation, and is considered the founder of the most impressive Bulgarian monastery - the Rila Monastery.

St Ivan Rilski Church
21. The St Ivan Rilski Church

St Nicola Church
22. St Nicola ChurchThe St Nicola Church at the Chalakovtsi Square,built in 1837. One-nave church with a ceilings made of wood.The icon screen is worth to see,most icons were painted in 1736. 

St George Church
23.The St George ChurchThis symbolic iconography depicts St. George as a Christian hero who conquered Evil Opposition to Christ, signified by the Dragon. The young maiden symbolizes the Church, which St. George defended and protected with his preaching.

St George Church
24.The St George ChurchSt George is the only Martyr in the Calendar whose cult is completely universal, that is, it is found in all the Churches of Christianity throughout the world. Georgia (the former Russian republic) in the Caucasus is a country named after him.

St George Church
25.The St George ChurchOther aspects of the cult of Saint George include his Patronage of soldiers and knights. He is also a patron of farmers - he became the defender of livestock and the earth. In some Orthodox countries, the agricultural year begins on his feast, May 6th, with molebens sung in the fields for a blessing on the new crops.

St.George Church
26. St.George ChurchThe small St.george Church in  residental district Trakia.

St George Church
27. The St George Church

The Catholic church
28. The Catholic churchThe Catholic church \\"Saint Ludwig\\" - its huge cross stands high at the southern slope of the Trimontium.This beautiful Catholic church was built with the generous support of the Roman Pope. It was inaugurated on March 2nd, 1861.  Maria-Louiza, the mother of the last Bulgarian tsar - Boris III, was buried  in the right nave of the church 

The Catholic church
29. The Catholic church \\\\"Saint Ludwig\\\\"The famous Roman architect Alphonso is the designer of the church. In 1933, the greater part of the altars together with the ten statues and the carved ceiling were destroyed in a fire. The flames burnt to ashes the enormous organ with two thousand silver horns - an unique masterpiece of Italian music masters.

The Imaret Mosque
30. The Imaret MosqueThis mosque was built almost 600 years ago by Shihabedin Pasha, son of Lala Shakhin (1330-82).  Lala Shakhin was a famous military commander that led the Turkish invasions through the Balkan Peninsula. After taking on Plovdiv in 1364, he named it Filibe - a name that was to remain for the next 500 years.In 1421 Sultan Murad the Second finished the building of the mosque, and ordered a slabstone to be incrusted above the gate. The words, inscribed there can still be seen: \\"By wish of Murad Khan, son of Mohammed Khan, Sultan, son of a Sultan, this majestic, pleasing the God building is built by Shihabedin Pasha, military commander of commanders. Let Allah give him whatever he wishes in this world and the world to come. Take this, oh, all-merciful, in 848 of eger.\\"

The Imaret Mosque
31. The Imaret MosqueThe Imaret Mosque - built in 1444-45, as the inscription over its entrance says. This is one of the oldest mosques in these lands. It was built on the right bank of the Maritsa river. There used to be an inn in the mosque's yard, functioning until the end of the 19th c. - hence the name of this mosque ("imaret" is the Turkish for "inn"). The inn was built by the orders of Sultan Bayazid - all the travellers that stayed here were supposed to have a free bed and food - and the will of Bayazid was respected for more than four centuries on. 

The Evangelical Church
32. The Evangelical Congregation ChurchThe Evangelical Congregation church is situated at the Northern side of the Sahat tepe, at the steep Lady Strangford Street. The 25-meter-high church is entirely built of granite. This is the largest Evangelical church not only in Bulgaria, but on the Balkans as well.

The Evangelical Church
33. The Evangelical Congregation ChurchThe inauguration ceremony of the church took place during the Second Council of the Evangelical Cathedrals, in the autumn of 1901. Eversince the time it was built, the church is an attractive spot for the Plovdiv artists.

The Synagogue
34. The Synagogue A quarter of a century ago, while the new residential area of buidings along the Maria Louisa Blvd was being constructed, the builders came upon an antique building of nearly 660 sq. m.Until now, it remains the only antique synagogue, archaeologically certified in Bulgarian lands. It is considered to be built before the Gothic Invasions, somewhere in the middle of the 3rd century.

The Synagogue
35. The Synagogue The inscription on the marble plates, bearing the names of those who lost their lives, says: "In memory to the Jews who died fighting against Fascism and Antisemitism, in the years 1923 - 1944."

Ascension Church
36. Ascension  ChurchThe Ascension  Church, at 14th Slavianska Str.

Ascension Church
37. Ascension  ChurchThe Ascension  Church, at 14th.  Slavianska Str.

The Armenian Church
38. The Armenian Church " Saint Kevork ".Initially, this church was an Eastern Orthodox church, dedicated to Saint George the Victor.In 1149, in the yard of the church, the noble bishop Alvisius of Arras, was buried with ceremonies. It happened during the time of the Second Crusade, and that bishop was a messanger of the French king Louis VII, sent on a special mission to Constantinople, to the court of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus (1143 – 1180).As early as 1767, this church was given to the Plovdiv Armenian Diocese. It is the only church where you can see transepts (that is, the cross naves) in spite of the central nave: one was for men, the other - for women. A chapel is added to the  church. After undergoing several reconstructions, the church got its present-day look.

Built-in-the-rock church
40. Church "St.Petka"The built-in-the-rock church "St.Petka".

Built-in-the-rock church
41. Church "St.Petka". The built-in-the-rock church "St.Petka".

Built-in-the-rock church
42. Church \\"St. Petka\\". The built-in-the-rock church \\"St. Petka\\".

The Trinity Church
43.The Trinity ChurchThe Holy Trinity Church at 1 Archimandrite Evlogii Street. 

The Trinity Church
44. The Trinity ChurchThe Holy Trinity Church at 1 Archimandrite Evlogii Street.