BOYANA CHURCH (БОЯНСКАТА ЦЪРКВА)

It takes 40 minutes to get there from Sofia by bus 64 or 15 minutes by cab. At the foot of the Vitocha mountain, the church of Boyana is registered by UNESCO as a world heritage site. Small basilica on the heights of the village, accessible by a steep paved street, it presents exceptional proportions and layout. Its interior is entirely decorated with mural frescoes. Incredibly well preserved and rehabilitated in 2006, they make it a unique document. Dedicated to Saints Nicholas and Panteleimon, it was originally frescoed in the Byzantine style, which was widely used in the Balkans. A two-story church was added to the first one in 1259 by the local lord Kaloyan, as the inscription on the northern wall testifies. The upper level was used as a lordly chapel and the lower level as a family burial ground. The introduction of realistic elements is innovative for the time. The portraits of the donors, Kaloyan and Dessislava, are surprisingly realistic, as are those of King Assen and his wife Irina. The third, western part of the church, dating from 1882, is of little interest and serves essentially as an airlock to protect the frescoes. It is here that one waits for one's turn, in summer, during the tourist influx! The tomb of King Ferdinand Iᵉʳ's wife, Eleonore Reuss (1860-1917), Queen of Bulgaria, is visible outside the church. Restaurants and hotels nearby. A little higher up, remarkable viewpoint.