The church will be erected in the yard of the medieval monastery complex “St. John the Baptist” and will be named after St. Sophia and her daughters Faith, Hope and Love.

“These are wonderful virtues, virtues that we all need in our lives,” says Father Nikolay Velichkov.

The new church will lend the final touches to the monastery complex where the only gold-fabric episcopal raiment in the world was found in an archaeological dig almost 20 years ago. It will be the second church in the complex, after the principal church named St. John the Baptist, itself discovered by archaeologists in the last years of the 20^th century, along with part of the monastery’s fortress wall. After being restored, the St. John the Baptist church opened doors in 2011.

Father Nikolay says that to lay the foundations of a new church in Kurdzhali is a “spiritual and historical act”, adding that he hoped the construction work would be completed within one year.