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The Medieval church of Saint Nicholas
Latitude and longitude
42° 59' 34" N , 22° 51' 39" E

The Medieval church of Saint Nicholas in the village of Kalotina is one of the few monuments on the territory of today's Bulgaria, which have preserved (unfortunately only partially) a picturesque ensemble from the XIV century. It is known mainly for its interesting donor portraits. Subjected to the devastation of centuries and years of poor management, the frescoes are currently in poor condition and in urgent need of restoration. Some of them are stored in the Archaeological Museum in the capital and can be seen there.

The building is built of roughly cut stone, welded with mortar. Dimensions 8.80x4.70 m. Probably from 1331-1337. On the outside there was / no longer / an inscription - At the request of /the Son?/ and by the doing of the Spirit, it was built and written... father Ni/kola/ in the days of the great John Alexa / under /. There are different theories about the founders, the inscriptions are not clear and are not very well preserved, but in general the names of Deyan and his wife Vladislava are visible. Their images are on the north wall of the porch.

The church in Divina neighborhood survived the fall of Bulgaria under, and all the years of, Ottoman rule.

And another interesting thing about The Medieval Church of Saint Nicholas:

According to one of the local legends, it was in this medieval church, more than seven centuries ago, on December 1, 1349, that the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander married the newly converted Jew Theodora (Second; until the wedding - Sarah). 8 days of heavy festivities followed, as this was the obligatory period for celebrating a royal wedding in the Middle Ages.