The Church of St Panteleimon or, as it is also called, the Boyana Church - a small but nevertheless very curious church is located in Boyana, a suburb of the Bulgarian capital, near the foot of Vitosha Mountain. This building was built in several stages: the eastern part (the oldest) appeared no later than X-XI centuries and was a small chapel. In the XIII century a two-storeyed church was added to it on the orders of King Kaloyan, and a few centuries later, in the XX century, a two-storeyed western narthex was added to the architectural complex.
The Church of St. Panteleimon is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, here are unique in their artistic qualities frescoes, which, according to many researchers, are among the best examples of fine art of the Middle Ages. There are two preserved wall paintings from two periods: XI-XII centuries and 1259. The early frescoes are executed in the dry manner (however, traditional for that time) of Byzantine style and are accompanied by inscriptions in Greek. But more interesting are the frescoes of the second period: in 1259 they were painted on the walls directly on top of the old ones, and are universally recognised as a masterpiece of world painting.
In total, the walls of St Panteleimon's Church depict almost ninety scenes from the Holy Scriptures. Very often there is a figure of Jesus Christ (more than 20 times). Here we see him in different ages and different life situations, which symbolises his difficult path and the obstacles he overcame to bring love and forgiveness to people. Also on the walls of the church we can see images of St Panteleimon, St Nicholas (the church was dedicated to him for some time), the Virgin Mary, the patron saint of the church King Kaloyan and his wife Desislava.
The uniqueness of the frescoes of this church lies in the fact that they were painted in the style of sharp character painting. All the characters are highly individualised and among the hundreds of faces you will not find a single repetitive one: each image expresses its own character and emotions. These frescoes also tend towards realism in depicting reality: people of different social strata are depicted here wearing clothes and surrounded by objects traditional to their status and the time in which they lived.
