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St Demetrius Church in Aytos. Hotels and other types of accommodation nearby.
The church of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki in Aytos is located in the town centre and has a quiet, beautiful yard with a new fountain. The today's church was built in 1844 on the ruins of the older temple of St. Martyr Dimitriy which was destroyed in 1828. Later, during the Liberation War it was burned down, but in 1883 it was rebuilt. The temple was built by the famous master Gentcho from Zheravna and master Ivan, a representative of the Debar Art School, made the interior decoration. The bell tower, raised next to the church, is the work of Master Denyu Danchev and the bells were made in 1914 in the city of Yaroslav in Russia. An interesting fact about the bells is that the smallest one used to alert people when to go to work and when to go home, because at that time most of them had no watches, and the big bell used to beat during holidays. The bells are ringing cheerfully to this day, and the woodcarvings and icons brighten every Christian with its beauty. In 2007 the Church of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki in Aytos is renewed and strengthened by the inhabitants of the town and in addition to their financial support they helped with labour, too. Except for the façade and the lining of the bell tower, the iconostasis was also renovated (from the sculptors Galabin Hristov and Stefan Marinov) and the narthex and nave were painted by painters Yordan Spasiev, Nedyalko Zhekov and Svetla Atanasova. The temple is very beautiful after the renovation. The frescoes fascinate with their expressiveness and images that seem to come to life and the iconostasis itself is shining. In the churchyard there is a tomb of the teacher Apostle Dyakov who was the first priest of the Bulgarian Exarchate in Aytos and an associate of the Apostle of Freedom Vasil Levski. In 1902 a chapel-ossuary was built next to it in honour of those who died in the war. It opens its doors on major holidays. Aytos visitors may also see the landmarks of the town and its surroundings, such as the house- museum of Petar Stanev, the house-museum of Chengelievi, Aytos spas, the remains of the fortress of Aetos and so on.
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