The church was built in the period between 1927-1929 and sanctified on October 12, 1930.
The mural paintings in the temple present the craftsmanship of Nikolai Rostovtsev and Alexander Sorokin. They were painted in the period 1954-1955. The mural paintings and the decorative motifs are in neo-Byzantine style, conforming to the architectural peculiarities.
Continue reading The Assumption Church in the town of Ljubimetz, Ljubimetz municipality

The temple is three-shipped and massively vaulted with open narthex to the west. Its construction started in 1840, and the sanctification was made on June 27, 1844.
According to an inscription on the Virgin Mary icon, the icons were painted in 1845. A master from the population painted the eight tsars and the 19 Apostle icons in a warm spectrum.
An image of “Jesus Christ Panthocrator” (All-powerful) on canvas is applied in the zenith of the central vault. The name of “Jesus Christ Panthocrator” (All-powerful) expresses the idea of the unity of all “hosts” of the universe, subdued to the hierarchic principle. It can be found in the Biblical prophetic books in combination “God of the Hosts,” or all-powerful, “bishop of the powers”. “Hosts” meant the sun, the moon and the stars, forming the whole celestial host.
The legend says that the icon painter came from Edirne. He also made the iconostasis out of planks with a combination of wood-carved crucifix and griffins. It is colored in green.
The monastery school at the St.Atanasii’s temple was inaugurated in approximately 1862, and existed until 1883. At first, the children were taught in Greek by Father Atanasii from Kavakli (Topolovgrad). After 1864–1865, priest Philio from Hebibchevo (Ljubimetz) taught the pupils in the church Slavonic language.

A natural furrow additionally carved and shaped like a small rock basin, can be found approximately 1.5km southeast from the village of Oriahovo in the valley of the riverbanks. Throughout the year, it is filled with water that does not dry up even during times of drought. The liquid flows in the basin from a crack in the rock. There are reasons to believe that during antiquity, before the deforestation of the region, the natural spring was far more deep-watered.

The Ancient Thracians gave a divine notion to the springs and often turned them into sanctuaries dedicated to the water nymphs, called nympheums. The additional carvings in the basin of the vicinity of God’s Step were probably done for this purpose. It is apparent that this sanctuary was part of the huge cult burial complex on the land of the village of Oriahovo, which also includes several dolmen tombs and cult rock niches. They were used for performing rituals connected with the cult of the dead, as well as those connected with the Thracian belief in a cyclic recurrence of the permanently reviving nature.

Continue reading God’s Step, Ljubimetz municipality Bulgaria

The architectural monument – obelisk of the perished during the Balkan War in the year 1912 was erected in 1941 at the Sheinovec peak, in the land between the villages of Valche Pole and Malko Gradishte.

The peak itself is connected to the beginning of the Balkan War in 1912. According to the Bulgarian secret services, on October 4, 1912, the Ottoman battalion on the Kurtkale peak numbered around 100 soldiers and two more small brigades were situated nearby. Commanding authorities of the Bulgarian military were preparing for an assault on the peak with the aim of seizing it, since the place is convenient for scanning the valleys of the Arda and Maritsa rivers and the Edirne Valley. Access to the peak is exceptionally difficult. The slopes from the south and northwest descend vertically and are inaccessible, while the eastern slope is rocky and steep. Climbing to the top was possible only via one path, meandering between the rocks and bushes.

Continue reading Architectural monument – obelisk of the perished during the Balkan War (1912), Ljubimetz municipality

Ljubimetz municipality is situated at the eastern part of the Haskovo Region and international highway Е-80 passes through it. The municipality is situated on a geographical crossroad connecting Western and Central Europe with the Middle East, Asia and North Africa. The municipal center – the town of Ljubimetz – is situated 40km away from the regional center, the city of Haskovo; 9km away from the border with Greece; and 12km away from the border with Turkey.
Continue reading Ljubimetz Municipality General Information

The integrated territory of Ljubimetz, Ivailovgrad and Madjarovo municipalities covers 1,410km2. Also situated there are parts of the Eastern Rhodopes ridges Maglenik, Sarta, Gorata, Gradishte, as well as the southwest slopes of Sakar Mountain and the Maritza River valley surrounded by them. The Vetren peak, situated near the Bulgarian-Greek border, is 1,266 meters high and is the highest in the region. St. Marina (709m) and Sheinovec (704m) are the other high peaks in the region. The majority of the territory is hilly with deeply indented relief and obvious erosion processes along the Arda River Valley.
Continue reading General information about South-Eastern Bulgaria region