Church “Holy Forty Martyrs”

Over the centuries, the city of Veliko Tarnovo has been a historical, spiritual and cultural center, developing and preserving Bulgarian Christianity, way of life and culture.

One of the most famous spiritual monuments of the Tarnovo Art School is the Orthodox Church “Holy Forty Martyrs”, located at the foot of the fortress Tsarevets in Veliko Tarnovo.

In honor of the victory over Theodore Comnenus in the battle of Klokotnitsa  in 1230, the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Assen II builds the church “Holy 40 Martyrs” on the place of the existing smaller church.

Despite the weather, natural disasters and Ottoman rule, the church still retains some of its incredible frescoes and paintings.

The Church of the Holy 40 Martyrs in old Veliko Tarnovo was turned into a mosque during Ottoman rule, destroying icons, iconostasis and frescoes.

However, to this day you can enjoy the murals “St. Elisaveta Milk giver with the baby John ”, located at the entrance of the church, as well as “ St. Anna Milk giver”. There are also preserved parts of the picture calendar with the months of May, August and November.

Some of the most significant Old Bulgarian epigraphic monuments – symbols of historical and cultural significance for the whole Bulgarian people – are preserved in the church “Holy Forty Martyrs”, namely: Omurtag, Assen and the border column of the fortress Rodosto from the time of Khan Krum.

Research and research for the church began after the Liberation.

The discovery of the archaeologist Valo Valov in October 1972 aroused great interest, when he came across the so-called Kaloyan’s burial – a grave in the northern gallery of the church “St. 40 Martyrs ”, which seems to belong to the Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan of the Asenevtsi family.

For convenience of our readers, there are directions to the Church “Holy 40 Martyrs” starting, of course, from Chamurkov guest house