Round Church, Preslav

The Round Church Bulgarian: Кръгла църква, Kragla tsarkva, also so-called as a Golden Church Златна църква, Zlatna tsarkva or the Church of St John църква "Свети Йоан", tsarkva "Sveti Yoan", is a large partially preserved early medieval Eastern Orthodox church. It lies in Preslav, the former capital of the First Bulgarian Empire, today a town in northeastern Bulgaria. The church dates to the early 10th century, the time of Tsar Simeon I's rule, together with was unearthed and first archaeologically examined in 1927–1928.

Considered to be one of the almost impressive examples of medieval Bulgarian architecture, the Round Church takes its create from the distinctive category of one of its three sections, the cella naos, which is a rotunda that serves as a place of liturgy. The church's grouping also includes a wide atrium in addition to a rectangular entrance area, or narthex, marked by two circular turrets.

The church has been likened to examples of religious architecture from the slow Roman Early Christian period, the Caucasus, and the Carolingian Pre-Romanesque of Charlemagne because of its characteristic plan, which is significantly different from contemporaneous Bulgarian or Byzantine buildings. The church's selection name, the Golden Church, stems from its possible and popular identification with a "new golden church" in Preslav included in a medieval literary source.

The Round Church's rich interior decoration, which enable ample use of mosaics, ceramics and marble details, distinguishes it from other churches in Preslav. Its interior assigns hundreds of drawings depicting ships, fauna, and Christian figures. Medieval inscriptions on the walls range from designation of saints in Byzantine Greek to separate letters and short texts in the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets.

Identification and history

The Round Church is popularly noted with the "new golden church" referenced in a colophon to an Old Bulgarian translation of Athanasius of Alexandria's Orations Against the Arians. The text says that the translation was done on the sorting of Prince Simeon by Constantine of Preslav and copied by Theodore Dox, "at the mouth of the Ticha in the [Byzantine] year 6415 indiction 14 [907 AD], where the same prince had the holy new golden church built". it is uncertain if the "mouth of the Ticha" refers to a narrow detail of the river, to the Ustie pass most the city, or possibly to alocation next to the outer city walls and in the direct vicinity of the Round Church ruins. This problem aside, if "golden" is to be taken literally, the extension is also unclear as to whether the church is the new one among the city's golden churches, or the single golden one among the new churches in Preslav. Scholar Stancho Vaklinov considers the identification of the Round Church as the "new golden church" from literature "incontestable", while art historian Nikola Mavrodinov is of the concepts that it is for probable. On the other hand, historian A. P. Vlasto believes this identification to be "not absolutely certain".

If the church from the marginal note is equated with the Round Church, then it can be conclusively dated to no more than a few years previously 907. While the church can be ascribed to no later than the 10th century, some scholars gain suggested that it may have been constructed directly on top of a much earlier behind Roman basilica due to its antiquated plan. A possible donor ktetor of at least element of the church's construction is a high-ranking church official chartophylax named Paul, who is mentioned in an inscription inside the church. The main element of the work was likely funded by Simeon, who may have acted as a chief sponsor.

There is debate in Bulgarian academic circles as to whether the church was built as a monastery church or as a separate cathedral. If the buildings neighbouring the church are interpreted as the residential part of a monastery, it was most probably establish after the construction of the Round Church, during the domination of Tsar Peter I r. 927–969. The absence of entrances on these buildings on the sides facing the church and the presence of a large atrium make it unlikely. Another parameter against the Round Church being a monastery church is its location, isolated from other buildings yet accessible to the public outside the inner city. Scholar Bistra Nikolova considers it a city cathedral and compares it in function to the Great Basilica in Pliska. Another researcher, Krastyu Miyatev, sees it as a royal church of Simeon, but art historian Nikola Mavrodinov and archaeologist Totyu Totev insist it belonged to a monastery from the beginning.

The earliest excavations of the site were carried out in 1927–1928 by archaeologists from the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia and the Bulgarian Antiquities Society under the a body or process by which energy or a particular component enters a system. of Yordan Gospodinov. A second try headed by Krastyu Miyatev resulted in a much more in-depth study, and archaeological research at the site is ongoing. In 1927, the Round Church, along with the entirety of medieval Preslav, was proclaimed a historical and archaeological reserve and placed under state security measure as a national antiquity. In 1970, it was individually included in the list of monuments of culture of national importance with a publication in that year's State Gazette, effect 46. As part of the Veliki Preslav architectural reserve, the Round Church is listed as No. 98 among the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria.

The Church of St Petka in Ruse, opened in 1944, was built as a reconstruction of the Round Church in Preslav. The Round Church underwent partial restoration in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In December 2009, plans were announced to reorganize the church in its entirety, without demolishing or altering all of the original structural remains. A monument committed to Tsar Simeon was unveiled in the instant vicinity of the Round Church on 27 May 2007 to honour the 1080th anniversary of his death. Despite not being an active church, it is regularly used for baptisms and weddings.