New LIK issue celebrates Bulgaria in UNESCO

site.btaBoyana Church Meets All UNESCO Criteria, Says National Museum of History's Inkova

Inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List demands that a site satisfy at least six criteria, including uniqueness, links to significant events and interaction with the environment, National Museum of History Boyana Church branch head Mariella Inkova said on Monday. She added that Boyana Church meets all six conditions and may be regarded as an architectural ensemble.

THE STRUCTURE

Boyana Church has a long and complex history. What is known so far is that it consists of three parts. The earliest was built at the end of the 10th and start of the 11th century and has a cross-in-square layout. Almost immediately, a necropolis developed around the church. Evidence for this comes from archaeological excavations under the Kaloyan section. The necropolis dates from the 12th century. Later, in the 13th century, a narthex was built on the western side of the church, overlapping the early necropolis, Inkova said.

There are varying interpretations of the church’s architectural history. Some researchers identify the narthex as a two-storey structure. The upper level housed a chapel, which, according to Byzantinist André Grabar, was originally accessed by a wooden bridge. Today, access is via a staircase on the church’s southern side. The chapel is believed to have served as a memorial space for the noble family.

Architect Kozhuharov suggests that the chapel was constructed at a later, third stage, based on the observation that its walls are thicker than those on the ground floor. This issue remains unresolved. The wall paintings with the donor’s inscription of Sebastokrator Kaloyan depict the church being dedicated to its patron, St Nicholas, and indicate that the church originally had two storeys.

Later, in the second half of the 19th century, another church was built on the west – this is the third, Revival-period part of Boyana Church. During the 19th century a large necropolis was formed alongside it. This is best preserved on the northern side, where large stone crosses characteristic of that period, comparable in height to a person, can be seen. Remains from this necropolis are also found south and southwest of the church, the Boyana Church branch head noted.

Here, a pattern of continuous development is evident, and the site may be described as an architectural ensemble. What is especially interesting, and noted by few visitors, is that ancient architectural elements are embedded in the building’s walls. This implies that there may have been a classical temple nearby, elements from which were reused in Boyana Church’s construction. Such spolia are typically placed where there is believed to be risk from evil forces: around windows, doors, and so on, making them apotropaic, she added.

THE ROLE OF QUEEN ELEONORA

In 1912, the church was at risk of demolition because the residents of Boyana village considered it too small and wanted to build a larger church, not recognizing its historical value. Queen Eleonora provided them with a new parcel of land for the construction of the larger church. St Nicholas and St Panteleimon Church served as the parish church until 1954. In 1927, it was declared a national monument, Inkova reported.

Eleonora requested to be buried near the church, and her grave is located outside on the southern side. The grave was destroyed during the socialist period but was later restored in the democratic era. The most recent conservation of Queen Eleonora’s grave took place in 1921 with support from the National Museum of History.

THE FRESCOES

The church's primary significance lies in its frescoes. Due to Bulgaria's historical circumstances during the Ottoman period, most churches have survived only as ruins. In this case, the frescoes are fully preserved. The site also presents a highly complex stratigraphy of paint layers, with experts identifying nine distinct layers. The earliest layers, found in the initial part of the church, may date from the late 11th or 12th century. Previously, it was believed that the first layer in the narthex, where we are located, was from the 12th century. However, recent conservation work indicates they are more likely from the first half of the 13th century, after which subsequent layers were applied.She noted that conservation was particularly problematic: “The work began in 1912, and the methods used at the time were considered standard, but some of these techniques damaged the frescoes, and later conservators struggled to remove all the conservation layers applied over the years,” the Boyana Church branch head explained. She added that Lozinka Koynova from the National Institute for Cultural Monuments played a key role in the restoration. In 2006, the restoration was finally completed by the team of Professor Grigory Grigorov and Vladimir Tsvetkov, and the church was opened to visitors.

BOYANA CHURCH AT UNESCO

Inkova noted that eligibility for the UNESCO World Heritage List requires a tangible connection to significant events, ideas, or traditions. The church’s frescoes are linked to notable 13th-century figures, specifically the donor couple Sebastokrator Kaloyan and his wife Desislava, as well as members of the Bulgarian royal family, Tsar Konstantin Asen Tikh and his wife Irina.

According to the donor’s inscription, the Sebastokrator is identified as a cousin of the Tsar and a grandson of King Stephen of Serbia. One theory suggests he was connected to the Nemanjic dynasty through his wife Desislava, who was the king’s granddaughter. This would explain why she is depicted wearing purple shoes.

Inkova noted that Konstantin Tikh Asen was a nobleman from the Skopje region who married the granddaughter of Ivan Asen II, the daughter of Nicaean Emperor Theodore II Laskaris. In this context, the depiction of Christ Chalkites next to the royal couple holds particular importance. This image was widely venerated in Constantinople from the pre-Iconoclast period onward, and, according to Professor Biserka Penkova, its iconography—seen in miracle-working icons, coins, and seals of the 13th century—was especially favored by the Vatatzes and Laskaris dynasties. The image functioned as an ideological tool to assert the Nicaean Empire’s legitimacy as the successor to Constantinople, in opposition to claimants from Trebizond and Epirus, Inkova noted.

Displaying this image in Boyana Church alongside the Bulgarian royal couple served both as an assertion of their rightful claim to the Tarnovo throne and as a declaration of their familial ties to the Byzantine imperial dynasties.

Another UNESCO criterion is the site’s interaction with its environment. The park around Boyana Church developed naturally, following the necropolis space established soon after the church’s construction in the late 10th–11th centuries. The early necropolis, according to excavations by D. Dimitrova, dates from the 12th century, and the later one from the 18th–19th centuries. Later, in 1907, at the order of Tsar Ferdinand, the park was landscaped by planting sequoia saplings (Sequoiadendron giganteum) from California’s Sierra Nevada. Today, the National Museum of History maintains the park, Inkova said.

“In addition to being inscribed on the UNESCO list as site No. 42 in 1979, UNESCO has repeatedly provided financial support, chiefly technical assistance for a climate control system, remote monitoring equipment, software, computers, and a colour scanner. There has also been funding for conservation-restoration activities, at various times. In short, UNESCO has also given us financial assistance,” Inkova explained.

Mariella Inkova graduated in History from Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski with a specialization in Cultural Studies. She holds a doctorate on Old Bulgarian Belts, 7th-11th Century from the National Archeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and has been appointed chief assistant with publications registered with National Centre for Information and Documentation. She has had research fellowships at the Maison des Cultures du Monde and the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme at Université Paris IV; further specialising at the Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz. Inkova is the author of The Crosses of Yakoruda, Sofia, 2011, and of over 100 scholarly articles in the fields of medieval Bulgarian archaeology and metalwork, as well as catalogue texts and travel guides. She has led archaeological studies at the forts of Kalyata near Yakoruda and Bukelon near Svilengrad, co-directed excavations in the Inner City of the First Bulgarian capital Pliska and participated in an international project with Germany on the Preslav Treasure, plus other projects funded by the Ministry of Education and Science, UNIBIT and the Ministry of Culture. She is a member of the National Committee of ICOM.

/RY/

news.modal.header

news.modal.text

By 07:37 on 09.07.2025 Today`s news

Nothing available

This website uses cookies. By accepting cookies you can enjoy a better experience while browsing pages.

Accept More information