St. Paissii of Hilendar Spiritual & Historical Center is among the key tourist sights in the skiing resort of Bansko, Southwestern Bulgaria. It opened doors in 2008 and has been named after the author of Slav-Bulgarian History, an 18 c. history book of enormous importance for Bulgaria’s National Revival of the 18-19 c., when the country was part of the Ottoman Empire. Paissii dedicated his life to disseminating knowledge about the Bulgarian people, its kings and saints, all Bulgarian events and developments, as he himself wrote in the opening paragraph of his History. Before taking up monkshood on Mount Athos, he lived in his hometown of Bansko. Stefka Bardareva, curator at the museum, tells us more.
“Here where the museum stands today, was the house of birth of Paissii of Hilendar. It was built in the late 18 c. There is evidence that it accommodated a school, as well as a nunnery. In the early 20 c. it even housed for while the local police station. Unfortunately in 1922 the house was reduced to ashes by a big fire. In this place, patriots from Bansko brought a huge stone to make sure that the generations would know that the great Bulgarian Paissii of Hilendar was born here in 1722. Paissii started writing Slav-Bulgarian History at the age of 23 in the Hilendar Monastery on Mount Athos. In a bid to collect facts he toured the Bulgarian lands, but made trips abroad too, including the lands in present-day Germany. He completed the great history book in the Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos in 1762. This is the year universally recognized as the inception of the Bulgarian National Revival. Later, Paissii traveled across the Bulgarian lands again, to promote his history book. He died in a Bulgarian village in 1773 on his way to Mount Athos. On 26 June 1962 he was canonized as a saint.”
Photographer Prof. Mikhail Enev has visited Mount Athos on many occasions. He has taken a complete set of photographs and has described in detail the monk’s cell and the chapel where he used to pray. The Spiritual & Historical Center displays replicas of the two premises. The contrast between the ascetic interiors of the cell and the magnificent frescoes in the chapel is striking. The chapel is tiny. Just like with the Mount Athos original the door is low and visitors are urged to bend to enter, thus bow in veneration to God. An inscription expresses gratitude to Hajji Valtcho, a wealthy donor who raised the funds for the chapel. He was Paissii’s brother and like him became a monk, but only later, once he was through with his family duties. The family’s eldest brother, Lavrentii, was Father Superior of the Hilendar Monastery on Mount Athos.
The portraits of Paissii, Hajji Valtcho and Lavrentii are displayed in the museum’s lobby. Other portraits present St. Ivan of Rila, Bulgaria’s spiritual patron, as well as Neophyte of Rila, a National Revival monk, teacher and artist born in Bansko. Documents, photographs and personal effects are arranged here, as well as a handwritten copy of Slav-Bulgarian History done in Bansko by Konstantin Chuchulayn. One can see here a photocopy of Paissii’s draft – the original is kept on Mount Athos. There is a handful of soil brought from Mount Athos, a place that Bansko residents hold in the highest regard.
“The center was founded with the purpose of preserving the historical memory of this town”, Stefka Bardareva says. “It is visited by people from different generations. Students come here from allover Bulgaria. Foreigners visit us quite often during the high season. For them the museum is a veritable discovery. Its collection is constantly enriched with great support from the Bansko community including generous local donors.”
English version Daniela Konstantinova
