Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel
Encyclopedia
The Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel is a partially preserved medieval Eastern Orthodox
church in the eastern Bulgaria
n town of Nesebar
(medieval Mesembria), on the Black Sea
coast of Burgas Province
. It was built in the 13th or 14th century and forms part of the Ancient Nesebar UNESCO
World Heritage Site
. A single-nave church with three apses, in the past it was topped by a dome and a bell tower. Its rich external decoration was done in Nesebar's characteristic style.
author Jonathan Bousfield attributes its construction to the reign of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
(r. 1331–1371), though during this period Nesebar changed hands multiple times between the Second Bulgarian Empire
and Byzantium
.
As the church lies in the old town of Nesebar, it forms part of the Ancient City of Nesebar UNESCO World Heritage Site and the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria
. Since 1927, it has been under state protection as a "national antiquity", and it was listed among Bulgaria's monuments of culture of national importance in 1964. The church is partially preserved, as most of its roof is missing. The extant arches have been reinforced using steel stretchers.
cross-in-square
plan. The church measures 15 by 7 m (49.2 by 23 ft) or 13.9 by 5.3 m (45.6 by 17.4 ft), and its walls are from 0.85 m (2.8 ft) to 1.3 m (4.3 ft) thick. It has a single nave
topped by a dome
and two arches along the length of the dome. The church has three apse
s, each with a window. The three-walled central apse is the largest and the two side apses merge into its sides. Two pillars aligned with the points where the side apses merges into the main apse divide the altar
into a prothesis
and a diaconicon
.
The church features a large narthex
which includes two vaults to the side of the wide entrance on its east wall. There are two other entrances, another wide entrance on the narthex and one accessing the nave from the north. In the past, the church featured a rectangular bell tower
above the narthex, which was also part of the design of Nesebar's Church of St Paraskeva and Church of St Theodore. The entire plan of the Church of the Holy Archangels, including the position of the belfry, has much in common with the earlier Church of the Holy Mother of God
at Asen's Fortress and the Chora Church
in Constantinople
. The bell tower was accessible via a stone stairway which stood in the western section of the nave.
As customary for Nesebar's medieval religious architecture, the Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel boasts lavish external decoration in a style characteristic for the city. The church was built according to the opus mixtum
technique using interchanging straight rows of brickwork and stones arranged in a chequered pattern. Three or four rows of bricks typically follow two rows of carved stones. The external walls feature elaborate connected blind arch
es, seven on the north and south walls and three on the west wall. The north and south walls also include semicircular pediment
s in the upper reaches. Each of these has three windows. Brick details and frieze
s of triple bands of coloured ceramic rosette
s and circles inside the arches complete the exterior decoration of the church.
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
church in the eastern Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n town of Nesebar
Nesebar
Nesebar is an ancient town and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Nesebar Municipality...
(medieval Mesembria), on the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coast of Burgas Province
Burgas Province
-Municipalities:The Burgas province contains 13 municipalities . The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town or village , and the population of each as of 2009.-Demography:The Burgas province had a population of 423,608 -Municipalities:The Burgas...
. It was built in the 13th or 14th century and forms part of the Ancient Nesebar UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
. A single-nave church with three apses, in the past it was topped by a dome and a bell tower. Its rich external decoration was done in Nesebar's characteristic style.
Location and history
The Church of the Holy Archangels lies in the northern part of Nesebar's old town, next to the coast of the peninsula on which the city is located. Based on its stylistic similarities to the Church of Christ Pantocrator, the building of the church is commonly assigned to the same period, namely between the early 13th and early 14th century. Rough GuidesRough Guides
Rough Guides Ltd is a travel guidebook and reference publisher, owned by Pearson PLC. Their travel titles cover more than 200 destinations, and are distributed worldwide through the Penguin Group...
author Jonathan Bousfield attributes its construction to the reign of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
Ivan Alexander , also known as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on February 17, 1371. The long reign of Ivan Alexander is considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history...
(r. 1331–1371), though during this period Nesebar changed hands multiple times between the Second Bulgarian Empire
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
and Byzantium
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
.
As the church lies in the old town of Nesebar, it forms part of the Ancient City of Nesebar UNESCO World Heritage Site and the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria
100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria
"100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria" is a Bulgarian national movement established in 1966 to promote tourism among Bulgaria's most significant cultural, historic, and natural landmarks....
. Since 1927, it has been under state protection as a "national antiquity", and it was listed among Bulgaria's monuments of culture of national importance in 1964. The church is partially preserved, as most of its roof is missing. The extant arches have been reinforced using steel stretchers.
Architecture and decoration
In terms of architectural design, the Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel follows the ByzantineByzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. The empire gradually emerged as a distinct artistic and cultural entity from what is today referred to as the Roman Empire after AD 330, when the Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire east from Rome to...
cross-in-square
Cross-in-square
The term cross-in-square or crossed-dome denotes the dominant architectural form of middle- and late-period Byzantine churches. The first cross-in-square churches were probably built in the late 8th century, and the form has remained in use throughout the Orthodox world until the present day...
plan. The church measures 15 by 7 m (49.2 by 23 ft) or 13.9 by 5.3 m (45.6 by 17.4 ft), and its walls are from 0.85 m (2.8 ft) to 1.3 m (4.3 ft) thick. It has a single nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
topped by a dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
and two arches along the length of the dome. The church has three apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
s, each with a window. The three-walled central apse is the largest and the two side apses merge into its sides. Two pillars aligned with the points where the side apses merges into the main apse divide the altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
into a prothesis
Prothesis (altar)
The Prothesis is the place in the sanctuary in which the Liturgy of Preparation takes place in the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Churches....
and a diaconicon
Diaconicon
The Diaconicon is, in the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Churches, the name given to a chamber on the south side of the central apse of the church, where the vestments, books, etc, that are used in the Divine Services of the church are kept .The Diaconicon contains the thalassidion...
.
The church features a large narthex
Narthex
The narthex of a church is the entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave, at the far end from the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper...
which includes two vaults to the side of the wide entrance on its east wall. There are two other entrances, another wide entrance on the narthex and one accessing the nave from the north. In the past, the church featured a rectangular bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
above the narthex, which was also part of the design of Nesebar's Church of St Paraskeva and Church of St Theodore. The entire plan of the Church of the Holy Archangels, including the position of the belfry, has much in common with the earlier Church of the Holy Mother of God
Church of the Holy Mother of God, Asen's Fortress
The Church of the Holy Mother of God is the popular name of a medieval Eastern Orthodox church located in Asen's Fortress. It lies near Asenovgrad in the Rhodope Mountains of Plovdiv Province, south central Bulgaria. Constructed most likely in the 12th century, it features two stories, of which...
at Asen's Fortress and the Chora Church
Chora Church
The Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora is considered to be one of the most beautiful examples of a Byzantine church. The church is situated in Istanbul, in the Edirnekapı neighborhood, which lies in the western part of the municipality of Fatih...
in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. The bell tower was accessible via a stone stairway which stood in the western section of the nave.
As customary for Nesebar's medieval religious architecture, the Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel boasts lavish external decoration in a style characteristic for the city. The church was built according to the opus mixtum
Opus mixtum
thumb|right|275px|Example of Opus mixtum in the [[Brest Castle]], [[France]].Opus mixtum , or Opus vagecum and Opus compositum, was an ancient Roman construction technique...
technique using interchanging straight rows of brickwork and stones arranged in a chequered pattern. Three or four rows of bricks typically follow two rows of carved stones. The external walls feature elaborate connected blind arch
Blind arch
A blind arch is an arch found in the wall of a building which has been infilled with solid construction so it cannot serve as a passageway, door, or window. The term is most often associated with masonry wall construction, but is also found in other types of construction such as light frame...
es, seven on the north and south walls and three on the west wall. The north and south walls also include semicircular pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
s in the upper reaches. Each of these has three windows. Brick details and frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
s of triple bands of coloured ceramic rosette
Rosette (design)
A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity. Appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral stele in Ancient Greece...
s and circles inside the arches complete the exterior decoration of the church.