Bulgarian Artist Day

The Day of the Bulgarian Artist is celebrated on the Orthodox Church holiday of St. Pimen of Zograf. St. Pimen was declared patron of Bulgarian artists in November 1993, by the idea of St. Pimen Zografski Union for Revival of the Sofia Sredna Gora. It is celebrated by the artists – icon-painters and restorers. St. Pimen of Zograf was a Bulgarian monk from the monastery St. Georgi Zograf in Aton. He was an icon-painter lived in the end of 16th century. The Orthodox Church declared him a saint and remembers him on November 3. According to the legend he was born with the name Pavel, he sold his property and became a monk in Aton. There he received the name Pimen, but when he turned 55 years St. Georgi appeared to him and ordered him to go back to his people as a clerical leader. St. Pimen went through Bulgarian lands for years, preached, constructed, renewed and wall- painted monasteries and temples. In the end of his life Pimen went back in the Tcherepishki monastery, where he fell sick and died on November 3, 1620.