Round Church, Preslav

Round Church
Кръгла църква
Frontal view through two partially preserved gates of a stone building, with a well in the center of a courtyard in front
The ruins of the Round Church in Preslav.
View from the atrium entrance looking towards the narthex and rotunda gates, with the apse in the distance
Religion
AffiliationBulgarian Orthodox Church
Ecclesiastical or organizational statusCathedral
Year consecratedEarly 10th century,
possibly before 907
StatusPreserved
Location
LocationVeliki Preslav, Shumen Province, Bulgaria
Round Church, Preslav is located in Bulgaria
Round Church, Preslav
Shown within Bulgaria
Geographic coordinates43°08′32″N 26°48′47″E / 43.1423°N 26.81295°E / 43.1423; 26.81295
Architecture
TypeCathedral
StyleEarly Byzantine,
possible Caucasian and/or Carolingian influences
Specifications
Direction of façadeWest
Length38.5 m (126 ft) (with atrium)
Width14.30 m (46.9 ft) (atrium)
10.50 m (34.4 ft) (rotunda)
Dome(s)1
Dome dia. (outer)10.50 m (34.4 ft)

The Round Church (Bulgarian: Кръгла църква, Kragla tsarkva), also known as the Golden Church (Златна църква, Zlatna tsarkva) or the Church of St John (църква "Свети Йоан", tsarkva "Sveti Yoan"), is a large partially preserved early medieval Eastern Orthodox church. It lies in Preslav, the former capital of the First Bulgarian Empire, today a town in northeastern Bulgaria. The church dates to the early 10th century, the time of Tsar Simeon I's rule, and was unearthed and first archaeologically examined in 1927–1928.

Considered to be one of the most impressive examples of medieval Bulgarian architecture, the Round Church takes its name from the distinctive shape of one of its three sections, the cella (naos), which is a rotunda that serves as a place of liturgy. The church's design also includes a wide atrium and a rectangular entrance area, or narthex, marked by two circular turrets.

The church has been likened to examples of religious architecture from the late Roman (Early Christian) period, the Caucasus, and the Carolingian Pre-Romanesque of Charlemagne because of its characteristic plan, which is significantly different from contemporaneous Bulgarian or Byzantine buildings. The church's alternative name, the Golden Church, stems from its possible and popular identification with a "new golden church" in Preslav referenced in a medieval literary source.

The Round Church's rich interior decoration, which makes ample use of mosaics, ceramics and marble details, distinguishes it from other churches in Preslav. Its interior features hundreds of drawings depicting ships, fauna, and Christian figures. Medieval inscriptions on the walls range from names of saints in Byzantine Greek to separate letters and short texts in the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets.