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St. Forty Martyrs Church in Veliko Tarnovo

The church St. Forty Martyrs is the most famous medieval Bulgarian monument in the town of Veliko Tarnovo. It was built and wall-painted under the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen II in honour of the glorious Bulgarian victory over the feudal lord Teodor Komnin in the battle near Klokotnitza that happened on March 9, 1230, and which made Bulgaria the most powerful country in Southeastern Europe. The church includes two parts – an oblong basilica with six columns and an additional building, constructed later on the western side of the church. During the years of the Ottoman yoke the church remained Christian probably until the first half of the 18th century. With its turning into a mosque the wall-paintings, the icons and the iconostasis were destroyed. In the church St. Forty Martyrs Church some of the most significant written monuments are found – the Omurtag’s, the Asen’s and the Border columns of the Rodosto fortress, dating from the rule of Khan Krum. After the Liberation (1878) the first archeological excavations around the church began. The Funeral of Kaloyan, Bulgarian ruler from 1197 until 1207, is of great interest. It was found in October 1972. The funeral is of a man some 1.9m tall, in rich warrior armour, with 61.1g golden ring with a heraldic sign. The same heraldic sign was found later in 1981 on a seal – irrefutable prove for the stamp sign of the Bulgarians during the Asenevtsi’s rule.

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