Belyova Church, Medieval Orthodox church near Samokov, Bulgaria.
Belyova Church is a medieval Orthodox church building near Samokov featuring a nave with an interior porch and semi-cylindrical vaults. The structure employs crushed stone mixed with mortar as binding material for its walls.
Archaeological evidence reveals three distinct construction phases beginning in antiquity and extending through the medieval period. The different building techniques show how the church was renovated and adapted across centuries.
The church's name comes from a local legend about the boyar Belyo, said to have built it during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The patronal feast, Mala Bogoroditsa (Nativity of the Theotokos), is celebrated on 8 September, and Samokov residents also mark 21 August, the death day of St Simeon Samokovski, as the town's day.
The building sits about 2 kilometers south of Samokov on the left side of the road toward Borovets ski resort. The straightforward location makes it easy to find when traveling in that direction.
The church was buried in earth around 1657 and stayed abandoned for decades, with grass covering it and an elm tree growing from the roof. It remained in use until 1712, when construction began on Samokov's Metropolitan Church. In 1737 the relics of Metropolitan Simeon Popovich, hanged in Sofia on 21 August 1737, were buried here.
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