The mayor was present at the opening Zdravko Dimitrov, the ministers Boil Banov and Mariana Nikolova, Ivan Totev, Dani Kanazireva, the US Ambassador to Bulgaria Hero Mustafa, the Executive Director of “America for Bulgaria” Nancy Schiller, with whose help the Basilica was discovered.
“It is not a pleasure for me to be here today at the opening of the Basilica. For seven years we worked hand in hand stone by stone to give new life to the Episcopal Basilica. Without the cooperation with the Municipality of Plovdiv these mosaics, which stretch to 2000 The involvement of the Ministry of Culture helped from the first steps to its completion. The US Embassy also provided strong support for the Basilica to become a reality, “said Nancy, President of the America for Bulgaria Foundation. Schiller.
The building is unique in its scale, architectural solution and decoration and ranks among the most representative early Christian sites. On January 20, 2018, it is included in the Indicative List of Cultural and Natural Heritage of UNESCO.
The restoration and exhibition of the mosaics was carried out in the period 2015-2020 with the financial support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation within a joint project with the Municipality of Plovdiv for “Restoration, exhibition and construction of a protective cover of the Episcopal Basilica of Philippopolis.”
The basilica is a unique site, which was discovered during rescue archeological excavations in the period 1982-1986. By 2002, almost half of the building was studied, and in 2016-2017 it was fully excavated. The total length of the basilica is 82.80 m and its width is 36 m, which makes it the largest basilica building from the IV-VI century in Bulgaria and one of the largest in the Balkans. The basilica functioned from the middle of the 4th century until the end of the 6th century, and in the Middle Ages a Christian necropolis appeared on its ruins.
We remind you that Plovdiv24.bg first introduced you to unique shots of the Great Basilica inside before the opening.
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