Church of St Nicholas, Melnik

[2] The Church of St Nicholas is generally dated to the late 12th century, a time when Melnik was ruled by both Byzantium and the Second Bulgarian Empire.

After the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), Melnik was deserted by much of its population and the lack of maintenance resulted in the church's rapid structural decay.

Architecturally, it is a three-naved basilica church; the naves were formed by two rows of columns which ran along the length of the cella (or naos).

The narthex and the four-stepped adobe synthronon (stone benches for the clergy) were added during the second period of construction in the 13th century.

Architects Vasilka Gerasimova–Tomova and Violeta Pesheva believe that it reached 15–16 metres (49–52 ft) in height and that it was built in the 1210s under Bulgarian despot Alexius Slav (fl.

It reads: "Copper-smelted church bell, a gift by Alexius, who is the pious Slav, to Saint Nicholas of Myra".

A very similar bell, also found in Melnik, bears an inscription which mentions Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259–1282) and the year 1270 specifically.

The surviving murals include rare depictions of the ordination of Apostle James the Greater for bishop of Jerusalem by the Church Fathers and the vision of Peter of Alexandria.