The gilded iconostasis
A carved screen covered in gold leaf.
Dennis G. Jarvis โ CC BY-SA 2.0 ยท Dennis G. Jarvis โ CC BY-SA 2.0 ยท Wikimedia Commons contributor โ CC BY-SA 4.0
The foremost painter of the Bulgarian Revival, 1810-1853. He painted wall paintings and icons in the country's most important monasteries โ Rila, Bachkovo, Troyan and Preobrazhenski โ and in many churches, this one among them. What sets him apart is that he broke the strict Byzantine convention: he brought everyday scenes and contemporary figures into religious wall paintings, painted himself into some, and wrote in Bulgarian rather than church Greek. In his time that was a cultural statement as much as art โ proof that Bulgarians had a language and an art of their own. You see him everywhere because he painted everywhere.
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The Church of Saints Constantine and Helena is the oldest in Plovdiv and the richest in ornament, standing on the edge of the old town hill at a spot where two Christian soldiers are said to have been executed in the fourth century. The present building dates from **1832**, from the Bulgarian Revival, when churches were permitted under conditions: that they stand no higher than the buildings around them and not be visible from the main street. So you enter through a gate and a courtyard, and the interior surprises you after a modest exterior. What makes it exceptional is the **iconostasis** โ the gilded screen before the altar โ among the most sumptuous executed in Bulgaria, carved throughout and covered in gold leaf. Its icons are the work of **Zahari Zograf**, the foremost painter of the Bulgarian Revival. In the courtyard are an arcade, benches and a view across the city. **Entry is free** and the church is working โ dress modestly, and photography may not be allowed.
A carved screen covered in gold leaf.
The foremost painter of the Bulgarian Revival.
Ulitsa Saborna 24, Old Town, Plovdiv