Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

On Saint Antony’s Day

The Church of Miracles in Bulgaria’s Melnik

The church to St. Antony the Great in the smallest Bulgarian town Melnik is the only one in Bulgaria bearing the name of the saint-healer, whom the Bulgarian Orthodox Church honours on January 17.

"The one-nave basilica was built in 1846. It was partially burned down, but it was never completely destroyed," Father Nikolay from Melnik told Radio Bulgaria. The interior of the church - the iconostasis, the furniture and the painted ceiling, were created according to the characteristics of the Melnik School of Iconography and assign this spiritual home a place among the cultural monuments of national importance.

On the night of January 16th the church is usually filled with believers who pray all night for salvation and healing. According to Father Nikolay, "angels and cherubim on the walls give lost souls the strength and security they need."

Why does the church in the Melnik cultural and historical reserve have a miraculous power?

You can find out more from the publication Saint Antony Church in Melnik and its miracles from the collection of Radio Bulgaria.


Compiled by Elena Karkalanova



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

The tradition of sending Easter cards in Bulgaria dates back to the Liberation

When we have a special occasion where we meet relatives or friends, as a sign of respect and as a memory, we usually present them with a gift, complete with a beautiful card. In the past, the card received was kept as a cherished memory and even passed..

published on 5/4/24 4:35 AM

The egg - a symbol of fertility and new life in Bulgarian folklore

Holy Thursday is one of the two days in the Holy Week when we dye eggs for Easter. Tradition dictates that the oldest woman in the family takes on this important task, and the first egg is always dyed red.  The Red Egg – symbol of the..

published on 5/2/24 4:35 AM
The Radio Sofia building

When the BNR “spoke” Polish

Today, the Bulgarian National Radio’s foreign language service Radio Bulgaria “speaks” 11 languages. Through the years, languages have been added, others have been dropped – something that happened to the Polish-language programmes. They were aired by..

published on 2/16/24 7:10 AM