Church of St. George the Victorious

The "St. George the Victorious" Church is the central functioning Orthodox church in the town of Kardzhali, located at 13 Exarch Joseph I Street.

The golden church domes, reflecting the sunlight, attract the attention of the city's residents and visitors from afar, inviting everyone to stop for a moment in front of the church and enjoy its beautiful architecture and the greenery in the garden. After a moment of tranquility, which the view from the open doors of the church brings, visitors can step into a world of silence and peace and light a candle.

The "St. George the Victorious" Church is the first church built in the Eastern Rhodopes after their liberation, in 1912. The building is a three-aisled, cross-domed church with an integrated bell tower, dating from the first half of the 20th century. The initiator was Father Georgi Stoyanov, who came to Kardzhali as a military priest. The first stone was laid on June 27, 1926, and the church was consecrated on October 28, 1928, by Bishop Hariton.

The iconostasis and other wood carvings were created by Filip Ivanov Filipov, and the remaining frescoes and icons were done by artist G. Zhelyazkov. In 1954-1955, the old iconography by artist Petar Jamdzhiev and decorator Milcho Karolev was revived. The church was built entirely with donations from the then Momchilgrad District Permanent Commission, the Kardzhali City Municipality, other municipalities in the district, the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, as well as voluntary donations from private individuals – residents of the town of Kardzhali.

The renovation of the "St. George the Victorious" Church is due to the pure enthusiasm of the current priest, Father Petar Kamen Garena. During his years of service in Kardzhali, he built a modern church from what was once an almost abandoned building. In March 1998, he was sent to Kardzhali by the Metropolitan of Plovdiv, Arsenius. Father Petar is the initiator of the restoration of the frescoes in the church after the roof collapsed in the late 1990s, taking a large part of the frescoes with it. Due to insufficient funds for their restoration, Father Petar Garena, with the help of local artists, managed to restore them on his own.

Father Petar also installed the gilded titanium domes on the "St. George the Victorious" Church, whose golden shine first illuminated the city on Easter, May 5, 2002. The larger dome has a diameter of 6 meters, made using a unique technology borrowed from Moscow craftsmen. The rhomboid scales measure 12 cm and were manufactured in a plating workshop in Plovdiv. The production took more than three months, and the installation of the plates took several days. The design and production were entirely funded by donations. Before being installed, the domes were blessed by Father Petar. On December 26, 2008, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the church, the Metropolitan of Plovdiv, Nikolai, consecrated the renovated "St. George the Victorious" Church.

In the northern part of the churchyard, in 2010, the bones of 199 unknown Orthodox Christians were laid in a specially constructed marble ossuary. Their remains were gathered over the years by pious people, who preserved them and saved them from complete oblivion and destruction. During a memorial service and the placement of the bones in the marble sarcophagus, conducted by the Metropolitan of Plovdiv, Nikolai, the event became significant regarding the past, present, future, and eternity. The sarcophagus symbolizes the memory of those who died for faith and people. This was done for the first time in a functioning Orthodox church in Bulgaria. The church feast of "St. George the Victorious" in Kardzhali is on May 6 – St. George’s Day. This is the day when St. George is celebrated, as well as the day of courage for the Bulgarian army. A special sacrificial meal is prepared for the health of Christians. Thanks to the installation of an external sound system, during liturgies on major Christian holidays, thousands of people gather. Upon entering the churchyard, on the left side, a perpetually flowing fountain has been built, with a carved image of St. George in the stone. An parish center has also been constructed, where every year summer theological camps are organized for children of different ethnicities.

The church has been declared a monument of culture of local significance.

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