The Sunken Church

The church "St. Ivan Rilski" also called "The Sunken Church" is a landmark that I have heard a lot about, but had not visited until now. These days, my friends and I were traveling in this direction, and that's why we decided to visit it.

It is located near the Bulgarian town of Tvarditsa, the region of Sredna Stara Planina.

We reached the place by car.

The church is located in the Zhrebchevo dam, but it was built long before its construction in 1965.

According to data from the site bulgarianontheroad.com:

"The temple was built in 1895. According to the stories of the locals, everyone from the village of Zapalnya helped in whatever way they could. Part of the altar of the church was moved to Gurkovo, and in the nearby town of Tvarditsa, the bell of "Saint Ivan Rilski" is preserved. To this day, it beats every time one of the people who lived in the basin of the dam dies."

In the 1960s, there were three villages on this site. But because of the newly constructed dam, the inhabitants of the villages had to be relocated and their houses destroyed. Thus the place was depopulated despite the protests of the people and only the church managed to be preserved over the years.

In the spring, when the snows begin to melt and due to the spring rains, the church is partially submerged in water.

When we visited her, it was dry and apparently she had not been in the water recently. There was overgrown grass, the icons, the altar and everything around had its place.

Beautiful views were revealed through the windows.

The missing roof showed the beautiful sky and birds were flying around.

There was a shelter built nearby with benches, a round fire pit and cool paper lanterns.

The nature around the dam was very beautiful. Yellow flowers were in full bloom everywhere and added a fairy charm to the landscape.