Church of St Athanasius, Boboshevo

Coordinates: 42°9′12″N 22°59′50″E / 42.15333°N 22.99722°E / 42.15333; 22.99722

The Church of St Athanasius in Boboshevo.

The Church of St Athanasius (Bulgarian: Църква Свети Атанасий) is a late Medieval Bulgarian church in the town of Boboshevo, Kyustendil Province.

Location, history, architectural and artistic values

An icon of Saint Athanasius in the patron niche in the western facade of the church.

The church is situated on a large platform in the cemetery in the small town of Boboshevo. It is a small one nave church with a semi-round apse. It is 8 m long and 5 m wide. There are two niches on the left and the right walls and another small semi-round niche on the northern niche. The church used to have a vault which was replaced with eaves during the reconstruction. A covered narthex was added in the 18th century and in 1926-1927 a new narthex with refectory was constructed. The walls of the church are 0,70 m thick and are made of stone. The church was fully painted from the inside and the western facade was painted from the outside as well according to the canon. According to the hardly readable ktitor inscriptions on the southern wall the church was constructed in 1590 or 1600. Up to 29 October 1862 it used to be the main church of the town. After the construction of the larger Church of St Bogoroditsa, St Athanasius was converted into a cemetery church.

The church is an architectural monument of culture of local significance (DV is.77/1972) and an architectural-artistic monument of national importance (DV is.38/1972).

The church was named after Athanasius of Alexandria also known as Saint Athanasius I the Great Patriarch of Alexandria. The church honours the saint on 18 January and 2 May.

Literature

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