Church of St George, Kyustendil

The Church of St George is dated to the late 10th or early 11th century based on its architectural appearance and mural paintings, which makes it the oldest preserved church in the city. It is located in Kyustendil's southwestern part, in the former village of Kolusha, which in 1939 was merged into the city. There is a theory that Bulgarian emperor Michael Shishman was buried in the Church of St George after he perished in the Battle of Velbazhd in 1330. However, scholar Bistra Nikolova entirely dismisses this theory as an "erroneous reference in [Bulgarian history] literature". Despite being located outside Kyustendil at the time, up until the construction of the city's main Bulgarian National Revival-style church in 1816, the Church of St George served as Kyustendil's cathedral. The church suffered some severe damage during the 19th century, the time of the Ottoman rule of Bulgaria; it was mostly destroyed, leaving only the foundations of the arches. It was reconstructed in 1878–1880, just after the establishment of the Principality of Bulgaria, ==Architecture and decoration==

The church follows the Byzantine cross-in-square design and measures . The dome is octagonal and features eight bays, four of which contain windows. There is no narthex and the cella appears square. A total of six pillars support the church from the inside. Two frame the entrance of the altar, while the remaining four stand below the dome. The church has three apses, all of a semicircular design. Materials used for the church's construction were bricks and mortar, resulting in interchanging rows of red and white. Together with the native house of Dimitar Peshev and the city art Gallery “Vladimir Dimitrov – Maystora”, since 2010 it has been listed as number 26 among the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria. ==References==