St Constantine St Helena Church

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Situated to the south of Hissar Kapiya Gate, the complex of St. Constantine and St Helena Church includes several church buildings with different functions. Except for the church, behind the high stone wall with a decorative brick cornice where is also a tall belfry, a house for the priest, a marble fountain and a school. The complex can be accessed from the west through a large wooden gate facing the cobblestone street. Next to the eastern gate is the building of the Holy Land Convent where monks from Jerusalem once stayed. To the east of the buildings border the early Byzantine fortification wall of Philippopolis (5th – 6th centuries ) that is part of Hissar Kapiya Gate – Round tower architectural and historic complex.
  According to a legend, the relics of Severian and Memnos were once kept here. They died for the Christian faith together with 38 other martyrs during the rule of the Emperor Diocletian, in 304 A.D. , near the Eastern gate of the ancient city, now located in Tsar Shishman square at the eastern foot of the Three Hills.
  The church in honor of St Constantine and St. Helena, located on this site, was mentioned by the German theologian Stefan Gerlach who visited the city in 1578.
  In the early 19th century when the Bulgarian Christian community gained economic power the main church trustee, Todor Moravenov, raised the money needed to rebuild the church. Another eminent Revival period figure, Valko Chalakov, obtained a Sultan’s ferman granting permission to rebuild both St Nedelya Church and St Constantine and St Helena Church. In 1832 the church was rebuilt by the builders from Bratsigovo. Soon after that the high wood carved iconostasis was made by Yoan Paskoulis from Metsovo. The icons on both tiers were painted by the icon painter Zakhari Zograf who worked here between 1834 and 1866. Later on, Nikola of Edirne and Stanislav Dospevski also painted icons for the church. In the period of 1894-1866 the walls were painted by Stefan Andonov and Atanas Gyudzhenov from Pazardzhik. They gilded the iconostasis and added polychrome decoration to the woodcarvings.