The Church "Saint Nikola" Built By Master Kolyu Ficheto

The church "Saint Nikola" is one of the first individual buildings of master Kolyu Ficheto. It was built in 1851, over the foundation of an old church. It was the first attempt of Kolyu Ficheto to initiate his own style that is specially expressed in the facades. The church wall-paintings dates from 1926, and three of the icons were made by Stanislav Dospevski, one of the most notable Bulgarian painters from the period of The National Revival. The building is three-nave pseudo basilica with a belfry and cupola made of wood and not standing out in the plan. The facades are richly decorated with graceful elements typical for the style of master Ficheto: winding pediments, sophisticated perches, three-leveled arcade with walled in half-pillars above the western entrance, a small blind arcade along the walls. The monotony of the heavy stone masonry is broken by the rectangular, oval and cross-like windows and by the outlines of the southern façade. The belfry is octahedral, with big oval and vaulted openings in the walls and sharp-pointed top; forms which give the impression of ease and elevation. The interior impresses with the gracefully bounded balconies of the emporium and the floral ornaments of the capitals of the pillars. The church "St. Nikola" is an active church, and have been declared as a culture monument with a national importance in The National Public Journal № 92, 23.11.1971, and it was reconstructed in 2000.