Church of the Holy Mother of God, Plovdiv

About

The Church of the Holy Mother of God, officially the Cathedral Church of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God (Bulgarian: Църква Света Богородица, Катедрален храм "Успение Богородично") is a Bulgarian National Revival church in Bulgaria's second largest city Plovdiv. 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 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, and the first benefactors (ktitors) were wealthy merchants from the town of Koprivshtitsa, the Chalukov brothers - Vulko and Stoyan Teodorovich Chalukovi. The iconostasis was made by carvers from Bulgarian School of Debar. Most of the church's icons were created by the painter Nikola of Odrin.

On 25 December 1859 and again on 10 January 1860, the bishop...