The Exhibition "Miraculous Icons and Holy Relics of the Balkans" will be Opened in Asenovgrad
The Historical Museum in Asenovgrad is pleased to invite you to the opening of the mobile exhibition "Miraculous Icons and Holy Relics of the Balkans", which will take place on April 12, 2023 (Wednesday) at 5 p.m. in the Old School "St. George". The exposition is visiting on the occasion of the 940th anniversary of the foundation of the Bachkovo Monastery. The monastery, which the great domestic of the West Grigoriy Bakuriani created in 1083, was for centuries a fortress, sacrum and horizon for the city and its region and as such influenced its socio-economic, spiritual and cultural development.
The architectural complex built over the centuries, the frescoes, the icons, the church utensils, the rich collection of manuscripts and old printed books are the result of the interaction of the Bachkovo Monastery with the cultural and monastic centers of the Balkans. Under their influence, he built a system of sacred topos and the cult of saints, miraculous icons and relics, which turned it into a powerful pilgrimage center.
The monastery owes its glory above all to the "Holy Virgin Blacherniotis" icon. As in the past, as now, thousands of believers come here from near and far to address their requests and hopes for miraculous help and healing to her. This provoked the desire of the Historical Museum - Asenovgrad to mark the significant anniversary of the establishment of the monastery with the exhibition "Miracle Icons and Holy Relics of the Balkans". It is a visual project realized by researchers from the Center for Slavic-Byzantine Studies "Prof. Ivan Duychev" at SU "St. Kliment Ohridski" with the support of the State Institute for Culture at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On 24 panels, churches and monasteries are presented, in which miraculous icons and holy relics are kept, and the fascinating story is accompanied by photos provided by the abbots of the Rila, Bachkovo, Troyan and Bigor monasteries. This narrative includes a brief historical reference for each monastery, data on icons and holy relics surrounded by the aura of miraculousness, as well as on the customs and holidays through which they are honored. We should note that of the ten miraculous icons presented, three are from our region. Besides the mentioned "St. Mother of God Vlacherniotis", here you will see the icon "St. Virgin" (Eleusis) from the church "St. The Virgin - Annunciation" - Asenovgrad, as well as "St. Mother of God" (Golden Apple) from "St. Bogoroditsa - Uspenie" in Gorni Voden quarter. This fact alone is indicative of the powerful spiritual influence of the Bachkovo Monastery in our region.
Visitors will appreciate another outstanding merit of this exhibition – it is accompanied by a bilingual catalogue. In addition to detailed information about all the icons and holy relics included in the panel, it examines in historical terms the phenomenon of this tangible divine revelation in Eastern Orthodoxy - the icon.
The exhibition has already met its connoisseurs in various cities of the Balkans, Europe and Africa. In Asenovgrad, it will be presented by its authors from the Center for Slavic-Byzantine Studies "Prof. Ivan Duychev" Prof. Aksinia Djurova and Vasya Velinova, as well as from the director of the State Institute for Culture at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova.
Special guests at the event will be members of the "Holy Annunciation" choir at the "St. Ivan Rilski", who with their chants will help us to experience the mystical world of the miraculous icon and will bring us closer to the day of the bright Resurrection of Christ.