It has taken the Ministry of Culture almost a year and a half to declare the St. Nicholas church in Veliko Tarnovo, built by Kolyo Ficheto, a monument of national significance, BNR’s correspondent in Veliko Tarnovo Zdravka Maslyankova reports.

This means the EUR 2 million needed to save the historic church building, the belfry and the old church school will now be found. The St. Nicholas church was built by master builder Kolyo Ficheto in the 1834 – 1836 period, and is one of five churches in Veliko Tarnovo built by the “father of Bulgarian architecture”. The list of monuments of culture of national significance was drawn up in the 1960s, but the St. Nicholas was left as a site of local significance. The structural integrity of the building where the debates of the Bulgarian lawmakers before the adoption of the Tarnovo constitution took place, is seriously imperiled. Around EUR 50,000 have so far been donated, which is a far cry from the EUR 2 million needed for the reconstruction of the complex and the church.