Visit to Dobarsko

Overview

Dobarsko is a village in southwestern Bulgaria, part of Razlog municipality, on the southern slopes of Rila near the valley of the Mesta River.

In the small village of Dobarsko which is only 12 km. from Razlog, there is a unique medieval church; The Church of Theodore Tyro and Theodore Stratelates which is included in the list of one hundred national tourist sites, it is a small three-naved stone basilica half dug into the ground. It was constructed no later than 1614 (with some sources claiming as early as 1122) and painted in 1672. The church donors, Bogdan, Hasiya and his son, as well as the builders Spas, Stanko and Smilen, are depicted in a donors fresco left of the door. The church is noted for its abundance of original frescoes and icons, some of which are interpreted as portraying Jesus in a rocket.

The other church, the Church of the Purification of the Virgin, is a richly-decorated Bulgarian National Revival work on the opposite side of the road dating to 1860.

Further information can be obtained from the Natural History Museum website here