2024-09-24 23:02:25
- For over 2 centuries the Hesychast monastery was hidden “3 furlongs from the bank of the Yantra”, as described in the life of the scribe
- The monastery church is among the most glamorous samples from the Second Bulgarian Kingdom
A magnificent medieval church of the Hesychast monastic monastery of St. Theodosius of Tarnovo was discovered on the grounds of an abandoned oil base of the State Reserve by archaeologists Prof. Dr. Hitko Vachev and Iliyan Petrakiev from the Regional History Museum – Veliko Tarnovo. It is mentioned in medieval written sources from the 14th century, but the exact location has not yet been established.
The sensational archaeological find came out during excavations west of Veliko Tarnovo, in the land of the nearby village of Samovodene. The uncovered remains are of a temple erected in the 14th century and “bitten” partially under buildings on the basis of the State Reserve, built by the Germans before the Second World War.
The architectural-stylistic features unequivocally indicate that
the church was born with the most brilliant monuments from the era of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom
“Only in Nessebar there are such lavishly decorated churches, and perhaps the patriarchal church in Tarnovo and church 10 in Trapezitsa,” commented Prof. Vachev. The walls of the temple are built of precisely cut stone blocks and bricks. The facades are moved by pseudo-constructive niches, the upper part of which is crowned with garlands of ceramoplastic decoration in several colors.
The under-roof cornices were decorated with specially made “wolf’s teeth” type bricks and ceramic elements, which were discovered for the first time in the Bulgarian lands.
“A vaulted gallery was built on the north side of the church, the arches of which were supported by stone columns. The gallery of the shrine church “St. 40 martyrs” in Veliko Tarnovo. There is probably a chapel attached to it, but we have not reached that point,” added Prof. Vachev.
The interior of the temple and gallery was richly decorated with wall paintings. The altar of the church is separated from the rest by means of a masonry altar partition, which is also frescoed.
Connecting the results of the archaeological research with the data from the life of St. Theodosius of Turnovsky, written by the Ecumenical Patriarch Callistus himself, it was established that
the exposed church is the catholicon – the foundation temple of the monastery,
whose abbot is St. Theodosius of Turnovski, and the founder is Tsar Ivan Alexander.
Theodosius of Turnovski was one of the great reformers of the church, an erudite, a teacher of the future St. Patriarch Euthymius of Turnovski. He is the ideologue of hesychasm, which in its essence is a form of Christian mysticism, a degree of connection with God.
It is achieved through abstinence, humility, fasting and prayer.
In 1355, Theodosius of Tarnovo led the Council against the heretics in Tarnovo at the express insistence of Tsar Ivan Alexander. In 1359, the ecclesiastic was once again at the heart of the victory of Orthodoxy at the anti-Jewish council in Tarnovo.
When, at the end of his life, he decided to retire somewhere in hermitage, the king did not want to let him go far and built him a “nice church and cells”.
In the life of St. Theodosius of Turnovski, it is noted that the king and his close boyars were not only founders, but also personally participated in the construction. In the historical source, it is noted that the king carried sand for construction from the nearby river in his clothes.
“The mentioned distance from the river to the newly built temple is 3 popristhas (a medieval measure of distance equal to 185 meters), which makes 550 meters.
Before starting the excavation, we measured the distance from the river to the terrain located for research – 552 meters. What more definitive proof of who and by whom this church was built”, the discoverer is convinced of his scientific hypothesis.
The research team faces a number of challenges for the next archaeological season. They also hope for a dose of luck on the part of the archaeologist to discover the grave in which a Bulgarian saint is buried – it is Roman Turnovski.
In 1363, Theodosius left for Constantinople, accompanied by the future Patriarch Euthymius
There he was received by the patriarch Callistus and he died in the Maman monastery in the vicinity of the city. Before he left, he left his associate Roman as abbot of the monastery.
“It was noted in his biography that he suffered from a disease called cough in Slavic. It was probably tuberculosis. After 3 years, he ended his earthly journey and the monks of the monastery buried him like their father.
St. Roman Turnovski was canonized and his memory is celebrated on February 17. Here, somewhere in the undisclosed part or in the gallery, is his grave,” adds Hitko Vachev.
With bone remains available, it is not a problem to determine by carbon analysis whether the person buried died of tuberculosis. Somewhere in the area must also be the mythical hermit cave of St. Theodosius.
“There are underground galleries within the “Petrol” Business Association, which at this stage are still prohibited access. That could be where the cave is,” the researcher admits.
The established location of the newly discovered
medieval monastery
and the presence of other monastic monasteries in its vicinity puts on the agenda the question of where the Tarnovska Sveta Gora mentioned in the written sources from the era is located.
“On the hill of Saint Gora, the monastery “Holy Virgin Hodigitria” was located together with “St. Trinity”, the Preobrazhensky Monastery, the so-called old Preobrazhensky Monastery, which according to Prof. Kazimir Popkonstantinov has as its patron “St. Spirit”, and the monastery of St. Theodosius.
This requires a rethinking of the location postulate,” the scientist believes.
The finds show that the monastery existed after the Ottoman conquest at least until the end of the 18th century. A box for castings, such as appeared in the 18th century, was discovered. It was filled with molding compound. A cross is placed, it is closed and silver or bronze is poured in,” describes the archaeologist.
The studies of the monastery complex were financed by the municipality of Veliko Tarnovo and private donors. Due to the personal commitment of the mayor Daniel Panov to the undertaking, the archaeologists plan to invite him as a patron of the research.
They hope that the Holy Metropolis of Veliko Tarnovo will bless and the state will support their work in the future.