WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?

Wed, 06/29/2022 - 12:35

Dedicated to the fallen in the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War as a result of which Bulgaria regained its independence after 500 years of Ottoman domination, this church looks as though it has sprung straight out of a fairy-tale

where in Bulgaria are you
© Anthony Georgieff

Though it is Orthodox Christian, it bears little resemblance to Bulgarian churches of the same period – simply because it was designed, constructed and consecrated by... Russians. Following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 many White Russians arrived in the Kingdom of Bulgaria as refugees, and a significant number settled in the towns and villages of central Bulgaria. The White Russian diaspora attended to several churches like this (another one still stands in the centre of Sofia and is a local landmark). In the 1930s Stalin transferred ownership of the church to the Bulgarian state on condition Russian emigres would be banned from taking part in the church management.

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