“St. Fourty Martyrs” Church

The “St. 40 Martyrs” church is the most famous medieval building in Veliko Tarnovo. It is located in Assenova mahala, just next to Tsarevets. It was built and its walls were painted during the reign of Bulgarian king Ivan Assen II after the victory against Epyrus despot Theodor Comnin on 22 march 1230.

It consists of two buildings – a six-column basyllic and another, smaller building on its western wall, which was built later.

During the presence of the Ottoman Turks, maybe until the first half of the 18th century, the church remainted christian. When it was converted to a mosque, all the christian symbols in it were destroyed.

The archeological researches on site were initiated in 1969. One of the most interesting discoveries was The Ring of Kaloian. It was a massive seal ring, with a lion engraved and an inscription, saying “The Ring of Kaloyan”. In 1981 there was a king’s seal discovered – a proof of this heraldic sign being the emblem of the Asen dynasty.

Kaloian was one of the greatest bulgarian rulers, expanding the country more than every previous bulgarian king. He defeated the armies of the Latin empire, he was blessed by the Pope as an Emperor of Bulgaria and even managed to proclaim the independency of bulgarian Patriarch.