Church of St. John the Baptist, Nesebar, Bulgaria

The Church of St. John the Baptist is a domed cruciform church, built of undressed stone. It is one of the best preserved churches in Nesebar. It is 12 meters long and 10 meters wide. The structure of the church consists of two cylindrical vaults which intersect in the center of the composition. The masonry is crushed stone and pebbles and the facades were probably smoothly plastered. It was built in the 11th century. The altar space consists of three semi-circular apses. Four massive pillars support the dome and form the cross. Inside the church the walls are smooth and unbroken. The exterior is simple without decorative niches and ceramic plaques, typical of the ornamental style. Bricks were used as a decorative element over the entrance, in the jagged cornices and around the windows.

Some frescoes in the church have been preserved dating from later periods. The faded portraits of the donor and his contemporaries on the southern wall and the fragments beneath the dome date from the 14th century and the others are from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Religious sites in Bulgaria

User Reviews

Hanna ZHY (2 years ago)
10 century!!!!!! This icons such old.....

Stanimir Dimitrov (2 years ago)
The Church of St. John the Baptist is a domed cruciform church, built of undressed stone. It is one of the best preserved churches in Nessebar. It is 12 meters long and 10 meters wide. The structure of the church consists of two cylindrical vaults which intersect in the center of the composition. The masonry is crushed stone and pebbles and the facades were probably smoothly plastered. It was built in the 11th century.[1] It has no narthex.[2] The altar space consists of three semi-circular apses. Four massive pillars support the dome and form the cross. Inside the church the walls are smooth and unbroken. The exterior is simple without decorative niches and ceramic plaques, typical of the ornamental style. Bricks were used as a decorative element over the entrance, in the jagged cornices and around the windows.

František Tulec (2 years ago)
A beautiful historical monument. One of the many must see places in Nessebar.

Pearl Xia (6 years ago)
Oldest church, cost 3lv to go inside, but very small, not many to see.

Andy Chaplin (9 years ago)
Really beautiful church. So much history and the facade just begs to be photographed!

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Ninara

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The church of the former Franciscan monastery was built probably between 1515 and 1520. It is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Rauma. The church stands by the small stream of Raumanjoki (Rauma river).

The exact age of the Church of the Holy Cross is unknown, but it was built to serve as the monastery church of the Rauma Franciscan Friary. The monastery had been established in the early 15th century and a wooden church was built on this location around the year 1420.

The Church of the Holy Cross served the monastery until 1538, when it was abandoned for a hundred years as the Franciscan friary was disbanded in the Swedish Reformation. The church was re-established as a Lutheran church in 1640, when the nearby Church of the Holy Trinity was destroyed by fire.

The choir of the two-aisle grey granite church features medieval murals and frescoes. The white steeple of the church was built in 1816 and has served as a landmark for seafarers.

Church of St. John the Baptist

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