UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Bulgaria

UNESCO's Description

Located on the outskirts of Sofia, Boyana Church consists of three buildings. The eastern church was built in the 10th century, then enlarged at the beginning of the 13th century by Sebastocrator Kaloyan, who ordered a second two storey building to be erected next to it. The frescoes in this second church, painted in 1259, make it one of the most important collections of medieval paintings. The ensemble is completed by a third church, built at the beginning of the 19th century. This site is one of the most complete and perfectly preserved monuments of east European medieval art.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History and architecture

The Boyana Church was built in three stages: in the late 10th to early 11th, the mid-13th, and the mid-19th centuries. The oldest section (the eastern church) is a small one-apse cross-vaulted church with inbuilt cruciform supports. It was built in the late 10th or the early 11th century.

The second section, which adjoins the eastern church, was commissioned by Sebastocrator Kaloyan and his wife Desislava in the mid-13th century. This building belongs to the two-floor tomb-church type. It consists of a ground-floor family sepulchre with a semi-cylindrical vault and two arcosolia on the north and south walls, and of an upper-floor family chapel identical in design to the eastern church. The exterior is decorated with ceramic ornaments.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q276553 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

The Madara Rider, representing the figure of a knight triumphing over a lion, is carved into a 100-m-high cliff near the village of Madara in north-east Bulgaria. Madara was the principal sacred place of the First Bulgarian Empire before Bulgaria’s conversion to Christianity in the 9th century. The inscriptions beside the sculpture tell of events that occurred between AD 705 and 801.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Description

The relief sculpture depicts a majestic horseman, approximately 23 m (75 ft) above ground level, carved into an almost vertical 100 m-high (328 ft) cliff. The sculpture is almost life-size. The horseman, facing right, is thrusting a spear into a lion lying at his horse's feet, and on the left a dog is running after the horseman. The carving of the horseman's halo and garments, as well as the bird in front of the horseman's face, are barely recognizable due to centuries of erosion and the generally poor condition of the monument. The relief is similar to the carbon images found in Saltovo, Soulek, Pliska and Veliki Preslav.

The meaning and symbolism of the sculpture is uncertain, as well as its actual masonry tradition and cultural source.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q319296 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

In the valley of the Roussenski Lom River, in north east Bulgaria, a complex of rock-hewn churches, chapels, monasteries and cells developed in the vicinity of the village of Ivanovo. This is where the first hermits had dug out their cells and churches during the 12th century. The 14th-century murals testify to the exceptional skill of the artists belonging to the Tarnovo School of painting.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

The caves in the region had been inhabited by monks from the 1220s, when it was founded by the future Patriarch of Bulgaria Joachim I, to the 17th century, where they hewed cells, churches and chapels out of solid rock. At the peak of the monastery complex, the number of churches was about 40, while the other premises were around 300, most of which are not preserved today.

Second Bulgarian Empire rulers such as Ivan Alexander and Ivan Asen II frequently made donations to the complex, as evidenced by donor portraits in some of the churches. Other patrons included nobles from the capital Tarnovo and nearest big medieval town Cherven, with which the monastery complex had strong ties in the 13th and 14th century.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q503387 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

Discovered in 1944, this tomb dates from the Hellenistic period, around the end of the 4th century BC. It is located near Seutopolis, the capital city of the Thracian king Seutes III, and is part of a large Thracian necropolis. The tholos has a narrow corridor and a round burial chamber, both decorated with murals representing Thracian burial rituals and culture. These paintings are Bulgaria’s best-preserved artistic masterpieces from the Hellenistic period.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Description

The site consists of a narrow corridor leading to a round, domed chamber of the size required for the burial. Both are painted and decorated with murals representing a Thracian couple at a ritual funeral feast. The murals were created in fresco. The walls were painted with a sanguine or dark reddish color.

The dome mural in this tomb shows a seated couple grasping each other's wrists as others approach in a procession with trays and various items as well as attendees. The couple is seated separately on differing ornate chairs. Bulgarian art historian Lyudmila Zhivkova interprets the shared gesture between the central figures as indicative of a moment of tenderness and equality, but that interpretation is not shared by all specialists.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q301815 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

Spread over an area of over 27,000 ha, at an altitude between 1008 and 2914 m in the Pirin Mountains, southwest Bulgaria, the site comprises diverse limestone mountain landscapes with glacial lakes, waterfalls, caves and predominantly coniferous forests. It was added to the World Heritage List in 1983. The extension now covers an area of around 40,000 ha in the Pirin Mountains, and overlaps with the Pirin National Park, except for two areas developed for tourism (skiing). The dominant part of the extension is high mountain territory over 2000m in altitude, and covered mostly by alpine meadows, rocky screes and summits.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Geography

Pirin National Park encompasses much of the homonymous mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, which forms part of the Rila–Rhodope Massif. To the north it is divided from the Rila mountain range by the Predel Saddle and mountain pass at 1140 m elevation, to the east reaches the valley of the river Mesta, including the Razlog Valley, to the south the Paril Saddle (1170 m) forms the border with the Slavyanka mountain range, and to the west reaches the valley of the river Struma. The park is situated entirely in Blagoevgrad Province in the municipalities of Bansko (36.6% of the park's territory), Gotse Delchev (4.9%), Kresna (14.9%), Razlog (10.2%), Sandanski (30.7%), Simitli (2.3%) and Strumyani (0.4%).

History and park administration

Pirin National Park was established on 18 November 1962 in order to preserve the natural ecosystems and landscapes along with their plant and animal communities and habitats. Originally named Vihren National Park, the protected area initially covered 67.36 km2. Its territory was expanded several times until it reached its current area of 403.56 km2 in 1999. In 1983, Pirin National Park was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites as an area of outstanding natural importance. By the Constitution of Bulgaria, the park is exclusively state-owned.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q651314 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

The Srebarna Nature Reserve is a freshwater lake adjacent to the Danube and extending over 600 ha. It is the breeding ground of almost 100 species of birds, many of which are rare or endangered. Some 80 other bird species migrate and seek refuge there every winter. Among the most interesting bird species are the Dalmatian pelican, great egret, night heron, purple heron, glossy ibis and white spoonbill.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

While Lake Srebarna was studied many times in the past by foreign biologists, the first Bulgarian scientist to take an interest in the area was Aleksi Petrov, who visited the reserve in 1911. In 1913, the whole of Southern Dobrudja was incorporated in Romania, but was returned to Bulgaria in 1940, when the area was visited once again by Petrov to examine the colonies of birds that nest there.

The area was proclaimed a nature reserve in 1948 and is a Ramsar site since 1975. The reserve was recognized as World Natural Heritage Site under the 1972 Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q122082 (CC0).

Visiting Srebarna Nature Reserve

Silistra (Bulgarian: Силистра) is a city on the Danube in North-Eastern Bulgaria, in the corner where the short land border between Romania and Bulgaria meets the river. Nearby is the Srebarna Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Silistra (CC BY-SA 4.0).

UNESCO's Description

Discovered in 1982 near the village of Sveshtari, this 3rd-century BC Thracian tomb reflects the fundamental structural principles of Thracian cult buildings. The tomb has a unique architectural decor, with polychrome half-human, half-plant caryatids and painted murals. The 10 female figures carved in high relief on the walls of the central chamber and the decoration of the lunette in its vault are the only examples of this type found so far in the Thracian lands. It is a remarkable reminder of the culture of the Getes, a Thracian people who were in contact with the Hellenistic and Hyperborean worlds, according to ancient geographers.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

The Getae had been federated in the Odrysian kingdom in the 5th century BC. It is not known how the relations between Getae and Odrysians developed. The Balkan campaigns of Philip II of Macedon between 352 and 340 BC shattered Odrysian authority and the Getae profited from the situation. By the second half of the 4th century, the Getae occupied sites on both banks of the lower Danube and this region flourished as never before. The new Macedonian conquests, secured with considerable military power, caused consternation in the adjoining territories and thus stimulated the political fusion of the Getic tribes.

The Getic tomb at Sveshtari in the western Ludogorie in Bulgaria is also supposed to have been near the location of Helis.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q650531 (CC0).