Description of the attraction
The Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God is an ancient city temple in Asenovgrad, which has gained fame since ancient times. Over the long period of its existence, it was repeatedly destroyed and restored.
The first time the temple was destroyed in 1189 by the crusaders of Frederick Barbarossa, and ten years later, under the Bulgarian ruler Ivan Asen I, the temple began to be restored. However, soon the church was destroyed once again. It was rebuilt by the townspeople under Ivan Asen II. The renovated temple did not last long again - only until 1600, when it was destroyed by a Turkish military detachment led by Hasan-Khojoy.
In 1765, Dimo Georgiev and Georgiy Dimov, residents of the neighboring town of Kostura, went to Constantinople to procure permission to reconstruct the destroyed church. Parishioners at that time lit candles right on the ruins. As a result, the church was rebuilt the same year. Two images (of the Blessed Mother of God Elsusa and Christ the Savior) and the antimension were brought from Mount Athos, where the Vatopedi monastery was located.
The reconstruction of the temple iconostasis was carried out in 1811. The iconostasis was made by woodcarvers Kosta Kolev and Kosta Masikov, it took them ten years. The craftsmen also carved a lion with a scepter on the royal gates - the ancient coat of arms of Bulgaria. Above the northern gate appeared an awakening lion with an ax in its mighty paws, and above the southern gate - a lion that crushes the coffin and brings the dead out of it. Church icons were painted by Hristo Dimitrov and his sons, Dimitri and Zachary Zograf.
At the temple today there is a museum, which stores ancient icons, church utensils and liturgical vessels. There was also a place for old printed books, among which there was Irmologii, dated 1825, as well as many engravings from the Rila Monastery and icons from Athos.
