Description of the attraction
The Church of St. George is a medieval temple in the town of Kyustendil, at the foot of Mount Osogovo. During the Ottoman Empire, there was the village of Kolasia (now Kolusha, Kyustendil quarter), the former residence of the bishop.
The church is a small structure, 10 meters long (without a porch) and 8, 7 meters wide, built like a cruciform central-domed church - the roof of the temple forms the shape of a cross, in the center of which there is a tower with a small dome. The builders used the Byzantine "hidden row" technique, in which the intermediate rows of masonry were pushed back and completely covered with a layer of a special white mortar. As a result, the brickwork on the building façade is visible across the row. The dome and walls are crowned with a double brick "wolf's tooth" cornice.
According to the peculiarities of architecture, the temple is attributed to the end of the X - beginning of the XI centuries. It is a monument of culture and architecture, has historical and artistic value as the oldest church in the southwestern part of Bulgaria. The frescoes found inside are rare monuments of church painting of the XII, XV-XVI and XIX centuries. Samples of icon painting belong to the masters of the Thessalonian school. Until now, images of Christian saints have been preserved - Nicholas, Ermolai, Panteleimon, Damian, Cosmas, Barbara, etc.
There is an assumption that the tomb of Tsar Mikhail III Shishman, who died in the battle of Velbyzhda in 1330, was located here.
In the 19th century, the temple was partially destroyed. The first restoration work was carried out after the Liberation, in 1878-1882. A vaulted roof, an entrance hall and a bell tower were added and added; the walls were re-plastered outside and inside and painted by Samokov craftsmen. In 1985, the tower and porch were demolished and the church returned to its original form. Five years later, during the next restoration work, the top layers of plaster were removed and the old medieval frescoes were restored. The work was finally completed only in 2004.
