“Saint Nikola” church - Melnik


It was built at the beginning of the XIII century as a Metropolitan Church by Sebastocrator Vladimir, brother of Despot Alexius Slav and is a three-nave building, basilica with three doorways of eastern type. Frescoes hold high artistic value. Some of them are still visible on the walls, while others are stored in the Archaeological Museum Sofia. Interesting artifacts found in the ruins are votive tablet of the Thracian goddess of hunting Artemis - Bendis, a Thracian gravestone with a dedication to the Roman Emperor Trajan, dating from 117 AD, and archaeological material from the early Middle Ages. Today there are only ruins left, but still the place is revered as sacred.