The church of Boyana is a medieval Bulgarian church situated on the outskirts of Sofia. The edifice comprises three buildings, built in the 10th, the 13th and the 19th century, respectively.

The church owes its world fame to its frescoes from 1259. They form a second layer over the paintings from the earlier centuries and represent one of the most complete and perfectly preserved monuments of eastern European medieval art. A total of 89 scenes with 240 human images are depicted on the walls of the church. The painter is still anonymous, but stands for the team that decorated the church and that was trained in the studios of the Turnovo Art School.

A total of 18 scenes in the narthex depict the Life of St. Nicholas. The painter here drew certain aspects of contemporary lifestyle. In The Miracle at Sea the ship and the sailor's hats recall the Venetian fleet. The portraits of the patrons of the church - Kaloyan and his wife Desislava, as well as those of Bulgarian Tsar Konstantin Tih and Tsarina Irina are among the most interesting and lifelike frescoes in the church.

The monument was added to the UNESCO protected World Heritage Site list in 1979.

External Links

Official website of the Boyana Church