Church St. Teodor Tiron - the village of Sovolyano
The church St. Teodor Tiron was built in 1834 upon the bases of an older shrine. It is the second church, built in the region after the Bishop's Church Virgin Mary's Assumption in the town of Kyustendil in 1816. St. Teodor Tiron is located in the center of the village, next to the stadium.
It is one-nave constructed and dug into the ground to three steps level. It is 18 m long and 4 meters wide. The iconostasis is original. The icons were pictured in 1860 by an unknown master of icon-painting who was good at framing, coloration and achieved a perfect blend of colours.
Later a new part was added to the west side of the church and near it in 1887 was built belfry with diameter of 4 m and a height of 13 m. There was a church school built together with the shrine and situated next to the belfry.
From Kyustendil to the church it is about 7 km.
Do you know that:
- the first Bulgarian school in the town of Kyustendil was established in 1820 in the courtyard of the church “Virgin Mary’s Assumption”.
- Kyustendil used to be named Velevuzdion, Velbondzh, Konstantin’s bath Uludzha, Bath, Kolasia.
- Hissarluka used to be completely deforested, but at the end of XIX and the beginning of XX century under the guidance of the forester Jordan Mitrev a coniferous forest was started.