Far to the south, almost at the border with Greece, hidden in the folds of the Eastern Rhodope Range spreads a small but wonderful village. You can seldom see anyone in the dozing streets and yet local people seem to truly enjoy the visit of anyone coming to their place and show all their hospitality and friendliness. They are not well off but they would never fail to treat a visitor to tasty dishes prepared of whatever they grow in their yards. However, the village of Dolno Lukovo has a rich history well preserved in the stories of 70 years old Granny Stefana, once a teacher of literature and Bulgarian language. They usually start form the distant past when the settlement consisted of 70 houses built along the left bank of the Byala River. In 1693 the village was stricken by plague coming from Salonica, in Greece. The surviving inhabitants saved themselves by abandoning the place and settling on the other bank. What remained of the old settlement is only the chapel of ancient male monastery of St. George.

Nowadays Dolno Lukovo resembles an architectural reserve. Its old stone houses with stone tile roofs are preserved in their authentic style. In the past almost every household used to breed silkworms and most of the houses were equipped appropriately. Nowadays however, local people make a living by growing tobacco and sesame. The villagers’ pride is the St. St. Constantine and Helena church, which is one of the oldest temples in the region.

“In 1806 the local people decided to build this church, Granny Stefana tells. The place was purposefully chosen – it used to be covered by oak woods. At that time, under Ottoman rule, Bulgaria has no religious independence, but and Ottoman law used to rule that a temple once covered by a roof could no longer be demolished. So locals worked speedily, only at night, claiming before Turkish authorities that they were making a barn. For that reason the church has no windows. It was ready in a week and to show that the building was Christian property, they erected a cross in the wall. The church is now 203 years old and everything in it is authentic. It is very interesting for its wall paintings. The building was divided into two sectors – for men and for women. In the ladies’ part there are no frescoes or icons and nowadays it has been turned into a museum of the village. The altar is made upon a hazelnut tree. On it the woodcarver has depicted everything that the land of Dolno Lukovo yields – grapes, silkworms etc. We have icons that are more than 200 years old, while the icons of the patrons - St. St. Constantine and Helena and that of the Holy Mother are more than 500 years of age. They have been transported from the church of the old village on the other bank of the river and from the ancient church of Arbanassy, Central Northern Bulgaria. These old icons are the only ones in this country painted upon clay grounding. The base is plastered with red clay and hay and then the painting was done. This is also the only church that has a stone well inside the altar.”

The church has no bell tower. Until the middle of last century it had a wooden clapper tied to a tall oak tree by the temple. The church is not working at present. Only on the patrons’ day – May 21 a liturgy is served there. In 1896, after the liberation from Ottoman rule the inhabitants of Dolno Lukovo built in the center of the village a large basilica with a bell tower.

English version: Iva Letnikova