ПРОГРАМИ
en de ru fr es sr gr al tr ro
Podcast in English
Share
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Temple built by French crusaders in the 15th century still survives in Bulgarian village of Vladimirovo

Photo: BTA

Two churches named after St. Nicholas stand in a courtyard in the village of Vladimirovo near the town of Montana, Northwestern Bulgaria. One is an Orthodox church and the other is a half-ruined Catholic church. 

The Catholic church was built in th period 1422-1423 by soldiers of the crusader army who stayed in the then village of Preslavitsa (present-day Vladimirovo). 

For the past 25 years, the two churches have been maintained by Valentin Valkov, a volunteer from the village who is a former military officer but has now dedicated his life to the Christian faith, BTA reported. He says that the Catholic church is a monument of culture, but it is crumbling and only the heavy stone crosses in the courtyard and inside it are a reminder of the old times and its builders - soldiers of the crusader army, who came to Bulgarian lands to drive away the Ottoman invaders, but suffered defeat, after which some of them settled in different places in the Bulgarian lands.

According to Valkov, in the village of Preslavitsa there was a colony of wounded soldiers of French origin, most of whom survived and recovered, settled in the village and built their own temple. Texts from the Bible in Latin were inscribed on its walls but these have now faded. About 70-80 years ago, during the Socialist period in Bulgaria, the Latin church was painted and a slight repair was made, but then it was abandoned.

The Latin church in the village of Vladimirovo is a great rarity for Bulgaria, but it needs repairs to preserve it.

Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.
Radio Bulgaria History and religion    Catholic church church crusaders Montana Preslavitsa village of Vladimirovo Vladimirovo

More from category

Great Lent begins

After Cheesefare (Forgiveness) Sunday, the Great Lent has begun on March 3. Orthodox Christians will abstain from eating animal food including meat, eggs, milk and dairy products. The Great Lent symbolizes the 40 days which Jesus spent in the..

published on 3/3/25 9:52 AM
Museum of History in Batak

Batak is the symbol of history written in blood that must not be forgotten

Batak is a name every Bulgarian remembers with deference and pain because the fate of the small town in the Rhodopes is scarred by one of the bloodiest events in national memory – the Batak massacre. During the first days after the outbreak of..

published on 3/3/25 9:10 AM
Felix Kanitz (1829-1904)

Felix Kanitz – the cartographer of Bulgaria’s National Revival

There is a map which helped usher in the birth of modern Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. The Austro-Hungarian researcher Felix Kanitz (1829 – 1904) was the first West European to have travelled to more than 3,200 towns and villages..

published on 3/3/25 7:25 AM

WEATHER
Pick city: Sofía
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 2 | Max: 18
Partly Cloudy
Min: 3 | Max: 11
Partly Cloudy
Min: 4 | Max: 11
Partly Cloudy
Min: 2 | Max: 20
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 6 | Max: 18
Partly Cloudy
Min: 2 | Max: 17
Partly Cloudy
Min: 3 | Max: 17
Partly Cloudy
Min: 0 | Max: 14
Partly Cloudy
Min: 3 | Max: 17
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 1 | Max: 20
Partly Cloudy
Min: 5 | Max: 18
Partly Cloudy
Min: 2 | Max: 19
Partly Cloudy
Min: 4 | Max: 19
Mostly Cloudy
Min: 0 | Max: 18
Partly Cloudy
Min: 5 | Max: 18
Partly Cloudy
Min: 3 | Max: 18
Partly Cloudy
Min: 4 | Max: 14
Partly Cloudy
Min: 5 | Max: 17
Partly Cloudy
Min: 6 | Max: 16
Partly Cloudy
Min: 4 | Max: 15
Partly Cloudy
Min: 2 | Max: 13
Partly Cloudy
Min: 1 | Max: 17
Partly Cloudy
Min: 3 | Max: 16
Partly Cloudy
Min: 4 | Max: 14
Partly Cloudy
Min: 4 | Max: 18
Partly Cloudy
Min: 4 | Max: 15
Partly Cloudy
Min: 1 | Max: 17
BULGARIA IN PICTURES
Which world-famous Bulgarian artist designed QSL cards for Radio Bulgaria?
Yasen Gyuzelev
Theodore Ushev
Christo Javacheff - Christo
Ilia Peikov
Lika Yanko

BULGARIANS ABROAD

Български English Русский Deutsch Српски Français Ελληνικά Español Shqip Türkçe Română
MOST VIEWED

Hieromonk Gavriil elected new abbot of Zograf Monastery

The Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos has a new abbot. Hieromonk Gavriil has been elected as the new abbot of the monastery, reported the website of the..

published on 4/12/25 5:55 PM

english@bnr.bg

+359 2 9336 661

Общи условия за използване на сайта | Политика за поверителност | Политика за "бисквитки"