The Church of St Petka of the Saddlers ( bg, Църква „Света Петка Самарджийска“) is a medieval

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

church in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, the capital of

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 Macedo ...

. It is a small one-naved building partially dug into the ground located in the very centre of both the modern and the antique city, in the

TZUM Tzum ( fry, Tsjom) is a village in Waadhoeke municipality in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 1,164 in January 2014. Tzum is known for its 72 metre tall church tower. History The village was first mentione ...

underpass. The church features a semi-cylindrical vault, a hemispherical

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

, and a crypt discovered during excavations after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The walls are 1 m thick and made from brick and stone. The church was first mentioned in the 16th century and was constructed at the place of a former

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

religious building. It is today a monument of culture known for its mural paintings from the 14th, 15th, 17th and 19th century depicting biblical scenes. The church is dedicated to St Petka, an 11th-century Bulgarian saint. The Church of Saint Petka acquired its present name due to it being a patron of the saddlers in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, who performed their rituals in the church. The adjective ''samardzhiyski'' ("of the saddlers") was derived from the Ottoman Turkish word ''semerci'', meaning "saddlemaker". Sofia - Church of St Petka of the Saddlers (HDR inside)

Sofia - Church of St Petka of the Saddlers (HDR inside)

According to one theory, Bulgarian national hero

Vasil Levski Vasil Levski ( bg, Васил Левски, spelled in old Bulgarian orthography as , ), born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (; 18 July 1837 – 18 February 1873), was a Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed t ...

is buried in the church. Press reports from 1937 retelling the stories of those who carried out a reburial, which might have been for Levski and reports from the 1956 excavation speculating that bones found might have been those indicated by the 1937 press, led to the skeleton labeled "No. 95", being sent for professional examination. When

Magdalina Stancheva Magdalina Stancheva ( bg, Магдалина Михайлова Станчева, 7 September 1924 – 6 October 2014) was a Bulgarian archaeologist and museologist, recognized for her dedication in preserving Sofia's past. As one of the first m ...

museologist and head of the Archaeology Department at the Sofia Regional Historical Museum received the bones, she sent them to the laboratory run by Petîr Boev at the Archaeological Institute for examination. The bones were either destroyed by mice or lost.

Nikolai Khaitov Nikolay Haytov ( bg, Николай Хайтов), or Nikolai Haitov (15 September 1919 – 30 June 2002) was a Bulgarian fiction writer, playwright, patriot and publicist known for his publications and research regarding the life of Bulgaria ...

, a popular writer, accused Stancheva; archaeologists Georgi Dzhingov and Stamen Mikhailov; Krîstiu Miiatev, director of the Archaeological Institute; and

Todor Pavlov Todor Dimitrov Pavlov (14 February 1890 in Štip, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire – 8 May 1977, Sofia, Bulgaria) was a Bulgarian Marxist philosopher, politician, journalist and leading member of the Bulgarian Communist Party. He was one ...

, president of the National Academy of Bulgaria of participating in a conspiracy to prevent investigation into Levski's burial site and publicly accused Stancheva of mishandling the remains. Two commissions met over the controversy in the 1980s, and confirmed that there was no proof which could substantiate that the bones were Levski's, as the bones were missing.

References

See also