Interior of an Eastern Orthodox Church

To diversify my architectural portfolio in this community, today I decided to publish the photos from inside a church. Orthodox Christian church. I am pretty sure that such photos have not been published here so far, because as we have often discussed this issue with danny.green, it is quite difficult to take such photos. Quite often impossible. Because in most Orthodox churches photography is forbidden.
Well, not in all.

I can say that I have taken pictures in many old, valuable and mystical Orthodox churches, located in small and almost completely depopulated villages or in remote areas. In churches where you can really feel the energy and mysticism of the place. Photography was not banned there. But in cities this is usually forbidden.

(One of the things that impresses me the most in the Orthodox Churches is the ornate and heavy chandeliers.)

Well, I have my own understanding of history and religion, and I recently read something that convinced me that these bans in the Eastern Orthodox churches were made solely for money. If you pay the fee (many times higher than the symbolic fee paid in one of the most important cathedrals in the world for me - Aachen Cathedral) you have the right to take pictures inside the church. There is nothing there that could be desecrated with photos. Nor is the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity holier and more important than that of Catholicism or Protestantism. It's all a matter of governance and finance policy. Nothing more. Because I have written here before that in some churches and monasteries, and especially those that are most visited, there is a ban on photography even in the yard, on the outside of the church building.

(What is characteristic of the Orthodox Churches are the numerous icons or painted biblical images and biblical scenes. The sculptors of certain saints are not typical here, but the icons.)

In my life I have visited hundreds of churches (most of them Catholic, as I have traveled and resided in Catholic countries) and I have come across units of Catholic churches where photography has been banned. In fact, I can only think of one. Of course, when I visited it, there were a lot of people in it who took pictures despite the ban. Which cannot happen in a Bulgarian Orthodox church.

(Icons with images of saints, as well as the double-headed eagle as a symbol of the Orthodox Church in the chandeliers. This is a skillful workmanship, which I believe cannot leave anyone indifferent to its mastery.)

Because it has happened to me, when I enter a church, a church servant to literally stick to me like a shadow to watch what I do.
Thus, instead of praying in peace in the temple, a person will rather feel like a criminal, or like a person from whom they can ask for money at any time. But as I said, not in absolutely all churches. Only in cities.

(I find this Eastern decoration rather lovely.)

That's why it sometimes even made me refuse to enter certain churches. Knowing or anticipating the hostility of the servants inside.

(I don't know if they keep it all year. Because these photos were taken at the end of May.)

In addition, the temple buildings attract me in general with their mysticism and the assumption that these are sacred buildings that keep secrets. Entering such a church, where there are such prohibitions, one expects to see something unusual inside. Something very valuable, something mystical.

(This wooden pulpit with seraphim (quite often depicted in Orthodox churches) actually looks a little unusual to me. Too Catholic. But that can only be my feeling.)

This, in turn, made me enter these buildings.

(An entire wall painted with icons - also typical of Orthodox churches.)

But then I enter this building, this temple, and I find that there is nothing mystical about anything inside. Nothing different from the other Orthodox churches I have visited so far.

(Another chandelier.)
And quite often I am disappointed. Even almost always.

(These are modern candlesticks - places where candles are lit for health or for a deceased person. And I must tell you that in the past there was no need for such complex installations, when the quality of the candles was good.)

(That's part of the iconostasis behind of the chandeliers - the traditional wall of icons in the Eastern Orthodox churches.)

(Icon of the Mother of God)

The photos are from the Church "Dormition of Theotokos" in Nessebar. The church dates from 1873.

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Copyright: @soulsdetour

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	Soul's Detour is a project started by me years ago when I had a blog about historical and not so popular tourist destinations in Eastern Belgium, West Germany and Luxembourg. Nowadays, this blog no longer exists, but I'm still here - passionate about architecture, art and mysteries and eager to share my discoveries and point of view with you.