The Patriarchal Cathedral of the Holy Ascension of God is not the first church building to occupy the Tsarevets
The Patriarchal Cathedral of the Holy Ascension of God is not the first church building to occupy the position on top of the Tsarevets hill. It was constructed directly on top of a late Roman (early Byzantine) basilica which dates to the 5th–6th century AD. The Roman basilica may have remained in use by the local congregation during the First Bulgarian Empire, though it was no longer active by the time the construction of the current church began. Clumsy black and white sketch of a medieval city with several towers and a large church visible The Patriarchal Cathedral as illustrated in a sketch in the 14th-century Braşov Menaion The current building of the Patriarchal Cathedral is considered by scholars to have been built in two stages. The first stage of construction was carried out in the late 11th century or the 12th century. The cathedral was initially built as a monastery church in the middle of a monastery compound, though in the early 12th century it was already the seat of the Bulgarian patriarch. The compound suffered large-scale damage caused by a fire, which necessitated the church's reconstruction in middle of the 14th century, perhaps during the rule of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria (r. 1331–71). Besides repair and reinforcement efforts, work on the church in the 14th century also included the construction of the exonarthex and the bell tower. There are several references to the cathedral in medieval sources. The earliest reference to the church tells of the transfer of Saint Michael the Warrior's relics from the Potuka fortress to the Patriarchal Cathedral on the order of Tsar Kaloyan (r. 1197–1207). The housing of a warrior saint's relics in the Patriarchal Cathedral signifies the incessant warfare against Byzantines and Latins that dominated Kaloyan's reign. In the late 14th century, the last Patriarch of Tarnovo, Saint Evtimiy, described the church as the "great patriarch's Cathedral of the Holy Ascension" in his writings.
Size: 4287px × 2848px
Location: Tsarevets Fortress & Patriachal Cathedral of the Holy Ascension of God Veliko Tarnovo Bulgaria
Photo credit: © Roland Pargeter / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: 5th–6th, ad., ascension, basilica, building, cathedral, century, church, constructed, dates, god, hill., holy, late, occupy, patriarchal, position, roman, top, tsarevets
