Church

Architectural masterpiece also known as the Russian Church

The Church-monument “Nativity of Christ”, located in Shipka, is a masterpiece of Russian church architecture. Also known as the Shipka Monastery or the Russian Church, it stands at the foot of the Shipka Pass. The journey to its construction was long and intricate. In 1879, Russian Tsar Alexander II authorized fundraising efforts, donating an icon, a vestry, and 1,000 rubles himself. On April 25, 1880, his permission for the establishment of the “Committee for the construction of an Orthodox church at the foot of the Balkans in southern Bulgaria for the eternal commemoration of the soldiers who fell in the war of 1877-1878” was published. This sparked a vigorous campaign to collect funds and materials necessary for the construction.

In 1885, the residents of Shipka donated land for the church, and construction began shortly after. However, in the following year, construction was halted for nearly a decade due to a break in diplomatic relations between the Principality of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Russia. The construction resumed in 1896 and continued for six years. The memorial church, built in the style of 17th-century Yaroslavl church architecture known as “Russian antiquity,” was consecrated on September 15, 1902, and the monastery opened on September 27 of the same year.

A unique feature of the temple is its crypt, built below the main level of the church. An iconostasis was later installed there, along with 17 stone sarcophagi in the two side galleries, which hold the remains of the heroes who perished in the Battle of Shipka. Additionally, 34 marble tablets inscribed with the names of the units and heroes who fell, totaling 18,491 people, adorn the inner walls of the church and the arcade galleries outside.