Saint Elijah Church: A Ruined Late-Medieval Orthodox Church in Bulgaria
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 3.9
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Bulgaria
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Bulgarian, Ottoman
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
History
Saint Elijah Church is a late-medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church in Bulgaria, architecturally characteristic of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. Named for the biblical prophet Elijah, who is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox tradition, it belonged to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church under the Bulgarian Patriarchate, the church’s patriarchal governing institution. Its ecclesiastical connections included the Nevrokop Diocese and the Razlog Archpriesthood, a subdivision of that diocese. The church is no longer active and survives in ruins.
Remains
Saint Elijah Church stands approximately 6 kilometres southeast of Bansko, on the right side of the road to Dobrinishte, in the fields of the Razlog Valley. The building was small and had a single nave, the main longitudinal worship space, with one apse, a sanctuary projection at the end. Its interior measured 6.60 by 2.60 metres.
The foundations are 0.80 metres wide and were made from rubble stone bonded with mortar. The walls have collapsed, with surviving sections reaching up to 0.60 metres in height.
