The Belovo Basilica (, ''Belovska bazilika'') is a large partially preserved

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

from

Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

near the village of

Golyamo Belovo Golyamo Belovo () is a village in Southern Bulgaria. It is located in the Pazardzhik Province. It is part of Belovo Municipality. The village is situated along the river Yadenitsa, at the foot of three mountain ranges: Rila, Rhodopes and Sredna G ...

Belovo Municipality Belovo Municipality () is a municipality in the Pazardzhik Province of Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Da ...

Pazardzhik Province Pazardzhik Province ( ''Oblast Pazardzhik'', former name Pazardzhik okrug) is a province in Southern Bulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre: the city of Pazardzhik. The territory is that is divided into 12 municipaliti ...

, southwestern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. Located on a hill in the vicinity of the village, the church dates to the 6th century and was first described in the 19th century. It features three naves and three apses as well as a baptistery. Notably, instead of a dome it was covered by a vaulted roof.

Location and history

The basilica is located on the Spasovitsa Hill (or Holy Savior's Hill) to the east of the river

Yadenitsa The Yadenitsa () is a 26 km-long river in southern Bulgaria, a right tributary of the river Maritsa. Geography The river takes its source under the name Kurtovsko Dere at an altitude of 1,992 m, about 1.7 km north of the now aba ...

, to the south of Golyamo Belovo and south of the town of Belovo. The church is accessible via a road which starts to the east of the village and passes some of its fruit orchards. Built in the first half of the 6th century, the church has been only partially preserved to this day. Among the sections that are still standing are the north arcade, the south wall of the narthex and monumental west facade. The church was first described in the 19th century by

Bulgarian National Revival The Bulgarian Revival (, ''Balgarsko vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and ), sometimes called the Bulgarian National Revival, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian pe ...

enlighteners Stefan Zahariev and

Petko Slaveykov Petko Rachov Slaveykov () (17 November 1827 OS – 1 July 1895 OS ) was a Bulgarian poet, publicist, politician and folklorist. Biography Early years and educational activity Slaveykov was born in Tarnovo to the family of the coppersmith R ...

, followed by a scholarly description by historian Petar Mutafchiev in 1915. The earliest professional excavations of the church's ruins date to 1924. These were financed by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

scholar Thomas Whittemore and carried out by art historian

André Grabar André Nicolaevitch Grabar (; July 26, 1896 – October 5, 1990) was a historian of Romanesque art and the art of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Bulgarian Empire. Born and educated in Kiev, Saint Petersburg and Odessa, he spent his career i ...

. Since 1927, the church has been under state protection as a national antiquity, and in 1966 it was classified as a cultural monument of national importance. In 1994, the basilica underwent partial reconstruction.

Architecture

The chief material employed in the Belovo Basilica's construction were square bricks joined together with

mortar Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

. The basilica measures . The interior is divided into three

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s by two rows of fours columns each running through the middle of the church. Each of the naves has an

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

at its east end. The apses are of a semicircular design; the middle apse, the largest of the three, houses a three-tiered ''synthronon'' (stone benches for the clergy). The western section of the church includes a

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

, which has a

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

with three

semi-dome In architecture, a semi-dome (or half-dome) is a half dome that covers a semi-circular area in a building. Architecture Semi-domes are a common feature of apses in Ancient Roman and traditional church architecture, and in mosques and iwans in Isla ...

s attached to its south wall. There are several entrances to the church, none of which can be considered the main entrance. The basilica is not topped by a dome. Rather, a row of

baldachin A baldachin, or baldaquin (from ), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent Architecture, architectural feature, particularly over Alta ...

-like arches acted as its roof. This feature of the basilica's architecture sets it apart from most other examples of

early Christian architecture Early Christian art and architecture (or Paleochristian art) is the art produced by Christians, or under Christian patronage, from the earliest period of Christianity to, depending on the definition, sometime between 260 and 525. In practice, ide ...

in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

. While architecture historian Stanford Anderson considers the ruins to be characteristic for the architecture of modern Bulgaria at the time, Bulgarian archaeologist Krastyu Miyatev believes it to be radically different from Bulgaria's other preserved basilicas of the same period. Architecture historian Stefan Stamov likens the Belovo Basilica's plan to that of

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

basilicas and presents the opinion that it was influenced by construction techniques from

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. The construction materials are, however, typical for the Bulgarian lands.

References

{{Belovo 6th-century churches Churches in Bulgaria Ruins in Bulgaria Buildings and structures in Pazardzhik Province