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Temple built by French crusaders in the 15th century still survives in Bulgarian village of Vladimirovo

Photo: BTA

Two churches named after St. Nicholas stand in a courtyard in the village of Vladimirovo near the town of Montana, Northwestern Bulgaria. One is an Orthodox church and the other is a half-ruined Catholic church. 

The Catholic church was built in th period 1422-1423 by soldiers of the crusader army who stayed in the then village of Preslavitsa (present-day Vladimirovo). 

For the past 25 years, the two churches have been maintained by Valentin Valkov, a volunteer from the village who is a former military officer but has now dedicated his life to the Christian faith, BTA reported. He says that the Catholic church is a monument of culture, but it is crumbling and only the heavy stone crosses in the courtyard and inside it are a reminder of the old times and its builders - soldiers of the crusader army, who came to Bulgarian lands to drive away the Ottoman invaders, but suffered defeat, after which some of them settled in different places in the Bulgarian lands.

According to Valkov, in the village of Preslavitsa there was a colony of wounded soldiers of French origin, most of whom survived and recovered, settled in the village and built their own temple. Texts from the Bible in Latin were inscribed on its walls but these have now faded. About 70-80 years ago, during the Socialist period in Bulgaria, the Latin church was painted and a slight repair was made, but then it was abandoned.

The Latin church in the village of Vladimirovo is a great rarity for Bulgaria, but it needs repairs to preserve it.

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