SAINT PETKA PARASKEVA ( Bulgarian) CHURCH

The temple is located at the eastern foot of the plateau of St. Nicholas, on a small height of old path Melnik – Rozhen. Not far from the church’s southeastern gate of the town in the “Klutch” area, and above it are the ruins of the monastery “The Holy Mother of God Spileotisa.”

The church was built in the VI century during the reign of Emperor Justinian I. The original patron of the temple is unknown. In the IV decade of the XIII century the church was destroyed by an earthquake and was renovated by Tsar Ivan Asen II and is dedicated to Saint Petka Paraskeva (Bulgarian). The change of the name is associated with the dissemination in Macedonia of the cult of St. Petka of Trnovo, after the victory of Ivan Asen II in the battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230.

The church has experienced several earthquakes, and then reconstructed several times. The Krupnik earthquake of 1904 is another one in a row where the temple collapses and remains in ruins more than a century.

In 2016 the church was resurrected once again and after a complete restoration welcomes thousands of laymen. The walls and ceiling are exquisitely painted. The bishop’s throne and iconostasis were carved in the tradition of the Debar Art School. Тhe Seven bells resound the surroundings with a silvery chime. The temple was completed and consecrated by the Nevrokopski metropolitan Seraphim on the patron saint’s day itself – October 13.