The complex of the Church of Saints Constantine and Helena, comprising several church buildings with different purposes, is located south of Hisar Kapia. In the space enclosed by a high stone wall with a decorative brick cornice, in addition to the church, there is also a tall bell tower, a sexton's primmis, a priest's premise, a marble fountain, and a school. The complex is accessible from the west through a large courtyard gate that leads to a cobblestone street. At the eastern courtyard gate is the building of the Bozhi Grob Monastery, where monks from Jerusalem once lived. From the east, the buildings overlap or border the early Byzantine fortress wall of Philippopolis from the 5th to 6th centuries, which is part of the architectural and historical circular tower complex of Hisar Kapia.
In 304, on the site where the church stands today, the martyrs Severian and Memnos were beheaded following Emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians. Before them, 38 martyrs from Plovdiv were also persecuted for their faith.
The temple dedicated to the Apostles Constantine and Helen, located on this site, is mentioned in the travel book of the German theologian Stephan Gerlach, who visited Plovdiv in 1578.
At the beginning of the 19th century, as the economic power of the Bulgarian Christian community grew, the chief governor of the temple, Todor Moravenov, raised funds for its reconstruction and another.
The prominent Plovdiv revivalist Valko Kurtovich Chalakov obtained a sultan's decree for the restoration of the two nearby churches of St. Nedelya and St. Constantine and Helen. The church was restored in 1832 by masters from the town of Bratsigovo. Soon after, the tall, wood-carved iconostasis, executed by John Pashkula from the village of Metsovo, was completed. The icons on the two rows were made by the Revival artist Zahari Zograf, who worked here from 1834 to 1866. Later, Nikola Odrinchinin and Stanislav Dospevski also left their works here. Between 1864 and 1866, the church walls were painted by Stefan Andonov and Atanas Gyudzhenov from the town of Pazardzhik. They also decorated the iconostasis with gilding and rich polychromy.
Translated by Google •
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